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Heights  and  Weights  of  New  York  City 

Children 

14  to  16  Years  of  Age 


A  Study  of  Measurements  of  Boys  and  Girls 
Granted  Employment  Certificates 


BY 

LEE  K.  FRANKEL,  Ph.D.,  Sixth  Vice- President 

i/ 

AND 

LOUIS  I.  DUBLIN,  Ph.D.,  Statistician 


Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company,  New  York 
1916 


Heights  and  Weights   of   New  York   City 
Children  14  to  16  Years  of  Age* 


A  STUDY  OF  MEASUREMENTS  OF  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 
GRANTED  EMPLOYMENT  CERTIFICATES 


The  New  York  State  Labor  Law  provides  that  no  child 
between  the  ages  of  14  and  16  shall  be  employed  in  a  factory 
or  in  a  mercantile  or  other  specified  establishment,  unless  he 
or  she  is  in  possession  of  an  employment  certificate.  As  a  con- 
dition for  granting  this  certificate,  the  law  requires  that  the 
child  shall  have  completed  the  work  prescribed  for  the  first 
six  years  of  the  elementary  schools,  and  that  in  the  opinion  of 
the  issuing  officer  the  child  shall  have  reached  the  normal 
development  for  his  age.  He  must  be  in  sound  health,  as  de- 
termined by  a  thorough  medical  examination,  and  must  be 
physically  able  to  perform  the  work  he  intends  to  do.  As  the 
law  in  no  way  controls  the  nature  of  the  work  which  the  child 
may  be  called  upon  to  do,  except  by  prohibiting  his  employ- 
ment in  dangerous  trades,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  the 
only  construction  of  this  law  which  will  adequately  protect  the 
child  is  to  determine  his  physical  fitness  for  any  work  in  which 
he  may  lawfully  engage.  This  investigation  has  concerned 
itself  in  part  with  the  determination  of  certain  norms  of  phys- 
ical development  which  may  serve  as  a  guide  to  those  upon 
whom  devolves  the  duty  of  issuing  employment  certificates. 

Height  and  weight  are  obviously  important  factors  in  the 
examination  to  determine  physical  fitness,  but  emphatically  so 
in  the  decision  of  the  medical  officer  as  to  the  normal  develop- 
ment of  each  applicant.  Hence,  the  chief  object  of  this  investi- 

*An  abstract  of  this  paper  was  read  before  the  Eighth  Congress  of 
the  American  School  Hygiene  Association,  San  Francisco,  June,  1915. 

The  authors  desire  to  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  Miss  J.  V. 
Minor,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  New  York  Child  Labor  Committee, 
who  suggested  this  study;  to  Dr.  S.  S.  Goldwater,  former  Commissioner; 
to  Dr.  Haven  Emerson,  Commissioner;  to  Dr.  S.  Josephine  Baker,  Director 
of  the  Bureau  of  Child  Hygiene,  Department  of  Health  of  the  City  of  New 
York;  and  to  Mr.  I.  S.  Adlerblum,  of  the  Statistical  Bureau,  Metropolitan 
Life  Insurance  Company,  under  whose  immediate  direction  the  tabu- 
lations contained  in  this  paper  were  made. 

1 


345859 


gation  is  to  establish  the  normal  height  and  weight  of  children 
between  the  ages  of  !4  and  16.  The  normal  measurements  for 
a  given  age  can  be  arrived  at  only  by  a  statistical  study  of  a 
considerable  number  of  cases.  For  this  purpose,  the  Board  of 
Health  of  New  York  City,  at  the  request  of  the  writers,  turned 
over  to  them  the  records  of  the  10,043  children  who  had  re- 
ceived certificates  during  the  nine  months  beginning  July  13, 
1914,  and  ending  April  12,  1915. 

To  be  sure,  a  number  of  investigations  have  been  made  on 
the  heights  and  weights  of  children.  The  subject  received  its 
impulse  from  the  well-known  anthropometric  researches  of 
Quetelet.  In  England,  notable  studies  were  made  by  Galton, 
Roberts,  Greenwood  and  others.  An  early  investigation  of  the 
subject  in  this  country  was  made  by  Bowditch  in  1877  in  the 
city  of  Boston.  Subsequent  studies  were  made  by  Peckham 
in  Milwaukee,  Porter  in  St.  Louis,  Boas  in  Worcester,  Oakland 
and  Toronto,  and  by  a  number  of  other  investigators.  But 
these  studies  concerned  themselves  with  children  at  school, 
while  our  data  deal  with  children  who  are  on  the  point  of  leav- 
ing school  to  go  to  work.  Moreover,  the  number  of  children 
between  the  age  limits  of  14  and  16  covered  in  the  other  inves- 
tigations was  in  every  case  comparatively  small.  Thus, 
Bowditch's  data  included  only  2,678  children,  and  the  investi- 
gations carried  on  in  the  other  five  cities  combined  were  based 
on  an  aggregate  of  5,514  children  14  to  16  years  of  age.  Our 
study  is  based  on  a  much  larger  number  of  observations, 
namely,  on  10,043  children,  and  is,  therefore,  more  representa- 
tive for  children  at  these  ages. 

The  records  of  the  Health  Department  were  transcribed  on 
cards,  and  the  following  information  was  abstracted  in  each 
case:  sex,  color,  birthplace  of  child,  birthplace  of  father, 
mother- tongue,  age, .height,  weight,  grade  in  school,  and  vari- 
ous other  items  pertaining  to  the  condition  of  the  applicant's 
health.  The  foregoing  items  were  tabulated,  either  singly  or 
in  combination,  to  give  the  data  of  this  investigation.  We 
shall  first  dispose  of  a  few  preliminary  items  such  as  sex,  age, 
and  school  grade  of  the  children,  and  shall  then  proceed  with 
the  consideration  of  their  height  and  weight. 

SEX 

Of  the  10,043  children,  5,393,  or  53.7%,  were  boys,  and 
4,650,  or  46.3%,  were  girls.  The  preponderance  of  boys  over 


girls  is  found  during  each  of  the  four  half-years,  as  is  shown 
in  Table  1  below. 

AGE 

Ages  are  stated  in  years  and  months,  a  fraction  of  a  month 
being  counted  as  a  full  month.  For  example,  a  child  of  age 
14  years  and  2  days  at  the  time  of  examination,  was  put  into 
the  age-group  14  and  1  month.  There  were  thus  24  age- 
groups  of  1  month  each,  starting  at  age  14  years  and  1  month, 
and  ending  at  age  15  years  and  12  months.  These  were  re- 
arranged into  quarter,  half  and  full  year  age-groups. 

The  children  were  distributed  by  half-year  age-periods  as 

follows : 

TABLE  1 

Number  and  Percentage  of  New  York  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages 
14  to  16,  Granted  Employment  Certificates 

Classified  by  Half-year  Age-periods 


AGE-PERIOD 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

Number 

Per  cent, 
of  Total 

Number 

Per  cent, 
of  Total 

14  -16  

5,393 

100.0 

4,650 

100.0 

14  -14£ 

2,002 
1,403 
1,263 
725 

37.1 
26.0 
23.4 
13.4 

1,624 
1,203 
1,141 

682 

34.9 
25.9 
24.5 

14.7 

14J-1S 

15  -15|..         .             .... 

15|-16  

The  first  half-year  period  contains  the  largest  proportion 
of  children.  Each  of  the  succeeding  half-years  shows  a  regu- 
larly diminishing  number.  It  is  perhaps  noteworthy  that  the 
excess  at  the  first  age-  period  is  more  marked  in  boys  than  in 
girls,  37.1%  of  all  the  former  being  in  the  first  half-year,  as 
against  34.9%  of  the  latter.  In  the  second  half-year  the  pro- 
portion of  boys  and  of  girls  is  about  equal,  26.0%  of  the  for- 
mer and  25.9%  of  the  latter.  In  the  third  and  fourth  half- 
years  the  ratio  of  girls  to  the  total  of  their  sex  is  higher  than  the 
corresponding  figure  for  boys,  compensating,  of  course,  for  the 
reverse  relationship  obtaining  during  the  first  year.  Age  15 
to  15J  includes  23.4%  of  the  boys  and  24.5%  of  the  girls,  and 
age  15J  to  16  embraces  13.4%  of  the  boys  and  14.7%  of  the 
girls. 

GRADE 


Table  2  gives    the  distribution    of  the  boys  and  girls  by 
school  grade  for  the  two-year  period. 

3 


TABLE    2 

Number  and  Percentage  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16 
Classified  by  School  Grade 


SCHOOL  GRADE 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

Number 

Per  cent, 
of  Total 

Number 

Per  cent, 
of  Total 

All  grades 

5,393 

100.0 

4,650 

100.0 

7A.. 

1,924 
629 
416 
467 

1,647 
287 
5 
18 

35.7 
11.7 
7.7 
8.7 
30.5 
5.3 
.1 
.3 

1,607 
586 
394 
297 
1,461 
287 
1 
17 

34.6 
12.6 
8.5 
6.4 
31.4 
6.2 

.4 

7B.. 

8A. 

8B  . 

Graduates 

High  School  
Vocational  . 

Unknown.  . 

In  view  of  the  requirements  of  the  law  demanding  the 
completion  of  the  sixth  grade,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that 
the  children  in  Grade  7A  contributed  the  largest  number, 
35.7%  of  the  boys  and  34.6%  of  the  girls.  The  graduates 
formed  30.5%  of  the  boys  and  31.4%  of  the  girls.  These  two 
groups  together  contributed  approximately  66%  for  each  sex. 
Only  a  small  number  of  high  school  children  are  represented, 
namely,  5.3%  of  the  boys  and  6.2%  of  the  girls.  The  re- 
mainder are  distributed  among  the  other  school  grades. 

The  above  considerations  show  clearly  the  effect  of  the 
present  law  on  the  composition  of  the  children  who  apply  for 
work  papers.  The  largest  groups  as  to  age  were  those  in  the 
first  half-year  period.  From  the  distribution  by  grade,  we  find 
similarly  that  the  minimum  grade,  7  A,  contributed  the  largest 
number  of  children.  In  fact,  2,002  boys,  distributed  over  the 
various  grades,  waited  until  they  were  just  old  enough,  before 
applying  for  employment  certificates.  In  addition,  1,924  boys 
who  were  eligible  as  to  age  were  obliged  to  wait  until  they  had 
reached  the  minimum  grade.  These  two  groups  have  73 1  boys 
in  common,  that  is,  boys  who  have  just  satisfied  the  minimum 
requirements,  both  as  to  age  and  grade,  before  applying  for 
certificates.  Deducting  these  731,  who  are  common  to  the  two 
groups,  we  obtain  3,195  out  of  a  total  of  5,393,  or  59.2%  of 
the  boys  who,  lacking  either  in  age  or  in  school  grade  require- 
ment, waited  until  they  were  just  eligible  under  the  law  to  apply 
for  employment  certificates.  The  corresponding  figure  for  the 
girls  is  56.2%.  Whatever  the  cause  of  this  condition  may  be, 
it  is  quite  obvious  that  these  children  took  advantage  of  the 


privileges  which  were  accorded  them,  under  the  law  exempting 
them  from  school  attendance,  at  their  first  opportunity. 

HEIGHT 

Heights  given  in  the  Health  Department  records  are  for 
children  in  shoes,  to  the  nearest  quarter-inch.  Comparative 
tests  made  by  the  examiners  showed  that  the  shoes  gave  an 
error  in  the  net  heights  of  from  f  to  1  inch  for  boys,  and  from 
Ij  to  2  inches  for  girls.  In  the  following  tabulations,  heights 
are  given  in  one-inch  units,  each  including  all  values  to  the 
next  unit;  thusr61  inches  includes  61|,  61 J  and  61f  inches. 

The  following  table  gives  the  distribution  of  the  boys  and 
girls  for  the  two-year  period,  by  heights  in  inches: 

TABLE  3 

Number  and  Percentage  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16,  at 
Each  Inch  of  Height 

Also  Average  Heights,  Standard  Deviations  and  Quartile  Heights. 


HEIGHT 

(Inches) 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Number 

Per  cent. 

54  and  under  
55 

22 

71 
129 
250 
384 
470 
641 
650 
666 
605 
527 
389 
263 
155 
76 
90 

.4 
1.3 
2.4 
4.6 
7.1 
8.7 
11.9 
12.1 
12.3 
11.2 
9.8 
7.2 
5.0 
2.9 
1.4 
1.7 

18 

17 
76 
152 
357 
542 
822 
781 
694 
512 
322 
180 
107 
47 
14 
9 

.4 
.4 
1.6 
3.3 

7.7 
11.7 
17.7 
16.8 
14.9 
11.0 
6.9 
3  9 
2.3 
1.0 
.3 
.2 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60  

61  

62  

63 

64.. 

65.. 

66  

67 

68  

69  and  over. 

Total  

5,393 

100.0 

4,650 

100.0 

Average  height 

Standard  deviation  ( <r  ) 

First  quartile 

Second  quartile  (Median) . . . 
Third  quartile 


BOYS 
(Inches) 

61.99 
3.Q8±.020 
59.91 
61.99 
64.17 


GIRLS 
(Inches) 

61.35 
2.38±.017 
59.88 
61.31 
62.93 


The  height  class  "54  and  under"  includes  heights  ranging 
down  to  49  inches  for  boys,  and  down  to  50  inches  for  girls; 
"69  and  over"  includes  heights  ranging  up  to  72  inches  for 
boys  and  up  to  7 1  inches  for  girls.  The  number  of  children  at 


the  extremes  is  small,  as  might  be  expected.  The  distribution 
follows  quite  closely  the  curve  of  error.  It  is  fairly  symmetri- 
cal, and  the  largest  numbers  cluster  around  the  average.  The 
mean  and  the  median  for  boys  are  identical,  both  being  61.99 
inches;  in  the  case  of  girls,  also,  the  figures  agree  quite 
closely,  the  mean  being  61.35  inches,  and  the  median  only  .04 
inch  less. 

The  distribution  of  heights  between  the  first  and  third 
quartile  points  indicates  that  half  of  all  the  boys  are  found 
between  the  limits  59.91  and  64.17  inches,  a  range  of  4.26 
inches.  Half  of  the  girls,  however,  extend  over  a  range  of 
only  3.05  inches — between  59.88  and  62.93  inches.  These 
figures  show  a  greater  variability  in  the  height  of  boys  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  girls.  This  is  borne  out  further  by  the  fact 
that  the  standard  deviation,  which  is  the  measure  of  variability, 
is  3.08  inches  for  boys,  and  2.38  inches  for  girls. 

These  facts  are  illustrated  in  Graph  A,  which  portrays  the 
distribution  of  the  heights  of  the  boys  and  girls  for  the  two- 


GRAPH  A 

Number  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16,  at  Each  Inch  of 
Height ;  Also  at  Average,  Median  and  Quartile  Heights 


840 
780 
720 
660 
600 
o  540 

0480 
* 
"420 
E 

Z360 

300 
240 
180 
120 
60 

°5 

_Bcys 

—  GIRLS 

840 
780 
720 
660 
600 
540 
480 
420 
360 
300 
240 
180 
120 
60 

3° 

Total  No. 
ofCh'lldren 

I  Boys  5393 
(  Girls  4650 

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3  «  54       55       56       57       58       59       60       61        62       63       64       65       C6       67       68       69       70       71       72       7 
Heights  in  Inches 

year  period.  The  solid  line  represents  the  boys,  and  the  broken 
line  the  girls.  The  lesser  variability  of  the  girls  is  evident 
from  the  greater  concentration  of  the  cases  about  the  mean. 
It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  the  position  of  the  first  quar- 
tile  point,  that  is,  the  height  below  which  25%  of  the  cases 
are  found,  is  almost  identical  for  the  two  sexes;  it  is  59.91  inches 
for  the  boys,  and  59.88  inches  for  the  girls.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  third  quartile  points,  or  the  heights  below  which 
75%  of  the  cases  are  included,  are  more  widely  separated, 
being  64.17  inches  for  boys,  and  62.93  inches  for  girls. 

As  has  already  been  pointed  out,  the  boys  are  taller  than 
the  girls,  the  averages  being  61.99  and  61.35  inches  respectively, 
or  a  difference  of  .64  inch.  The  actual  difference  between  the 
average  heights  is  even  greater,  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
girls  wear  higher  heels.  Accurate  figures  are  not  available, 
but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  an  additional  half -inch  may  be  added 
to  the  above  figure  (.64  inch)  to  give  the  net  difference  in  the 
average  heights  of  the  two  sexes.  This  difference  is  somewhat 
greater  than  that  found  by  other  observers.  The  data  of 
Bowditch,*  for  example,  give  a  net  difference  of  .47  inch  in 
favor  of  the  boys  for  the  two-year  period,  and  those  of  Boasf 
give  a  difference  of  only  .10  inch. 

These  sex  comparisons  are  much  more  significant,  however, 
when  made  for  each  of  the  two  years,  and  not  for  the  two 
years  combined;  for  the  height  relations  of  the  two  sexes 
present  important  differences  in  the  individual  years.  This 
leads  us  to  a  discussion  of  gain  in  height  of  boys  and  girls 
during  the  two  years  covered  in  our  investigation.  It  must 
be  emphasized  that  our  study  is  an  extensive  and  not  an  in- 
tensive one.  Our  data  do  not  cover  individual  children,  each 
studied  at  various  stages  of  development.  Each  child,  at 
whatever  age,  was  under  observation  only  once. 

The  following  table  gives  the  average  heights  for  each  of 
the  eight  quarter-year  periods  for  the  boys  and  girls: 


*H.  P.  Bowditch,  "The  Growth  of  Children"  (8th  Annual  Report 
of  the  State  Board  of  Health  of  Massachusetts),  Boston,  1877. 

fFranz  Boas,  "The  Growth  of  Toronto  Children"  (Report  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Education  for  1896-7),  Washington,  1898. 

Boas  and  Wissler,  "Statistics  of  Growth"  based  on  a  study  of  school 
children  in  Worcester,  Mass.  (Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education 
for  1904),  Washington,  1905. 

Franz  Boas,  "Changes  in  Bodily  Form  of  Descendants  of  Immigrants" 
(Vol.  38.  Reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission),  Washington,  1911. 


TABLE  4 

Number  and  Average  Height  of  Boys  and  Girls  for  Ages  14  to  15 
and  15  to  16  and  for  Each  Quarter-year. 


AGE- 
PERIOD 

AND 

SEX 

WHOLE  YEAR 

FIRST  QUARTER 

SECOND  QUARTER 

THIRD  QUARTER 

FOURTHQUARTER 

No.  of 
Children 

Average 
Height 
(Inches) 

No.  of 
Children 

Average 
Height 
(Inches) 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Height 
(Inches) 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Height 
(Inches) 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Height 
(Inches) 

Age  14-15 

Boys 
Girls 

3,405 
2,827 

61.55 
61.19 

1,216 
1,033 

61.14 
61.12 

786 
591 

61.52 

61.21 

724 
623 

61.72 
61.22 

679 
580 

62.13 
61.29 

Age  15-16 

Boys 
Girls 

1,988 
1,823 

62.74 
61.59 

698 
616 

62.44 
61.43 

565 
525 

62.74 
61.39 

446 
409 

62.96 
61.93 

279 
273 

63.15 
61.83 

The  facts  of  this  table  are  presented  in  Graph  B. 

The  solid  line  represents  the  boys  and  the  broken  line  the 
girls.  The  heights  of  the  boys  increase  regularly  with  age. 
This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  their  line  of  growth  is  almost 
straight.  Girls,  on  the  other  hand,  remain  almost  constant 
in  height  during  the  first  year.  Thereafter,  their  height  in- 
creases irregularly;  the  greatest  height  is  reached  in  the  seventh- 

GRAPH  B 

Average  Height  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16,  at  each 
Quarter-year  Period 


BOYS 
GIRLS 


<£ 


l.-14iyrs.l  14i-14iyrs.l  14i-15yrs.  I   15-151   yrs.  I  15|  -15i; 
(BO,,  12*1 6  786  724  679  698  665* 

(.Girl,  1033 


60 
Age  14-141  y 


60 

15T-16*rstta. 
279  5393 
273  4650 


591 


724 
623 


679 
580 


698 
616 


565 
625 


446 

409 


8 


quarter.  In  the  two  years  under  consideration,  the  boys 
increase  2.01  inches.  The  girls  increase  only  .71  inch,  al- 
though the  range  between  minimum  and  maximum  height  of 
girls  is  .81  inch,  which  is  attained  in  the  seventh  quarter.  It 
may  be  seen  that,  although  the  height  of  girls  is  virtually  sta- 
tionary in  the  first  of  these  two  years,  it  increases  nearly  as  much 
as  that  of  the  boys  in  the  second  year.  These  figures  are  in 
marked  contrast  to  those  of  Boas,  who  found  for  Toronto  chil- 
dren a  difference  of  over  3.46  inches  for  boys,  and  of  1.69 
inches  for  girls,  from  the  first  to  the  eighth  quarters  in  these 
two  years. 

If  we  take  the  figures  from  year  to  year,  instead  of  by 
quarter-years,  we  find  a  difference  of  1.19  inches  for  boys 
between  the  15th  and  16th  years;  and  for  girls  a  difference  of 
,40  inch.  Bowditch  found,  among  Boston  children,  increases 
of  2.42  and  1.16  inches  for  boys  and  girls,  respectively.  In 
like  manner,  Boas  showed  that  the  Toronto  boys  increased 
2.40  inches,  and  the  girls  1.07  inches,  between  the  15th  and 
16th  years.  The  growth  of  the  Boston  and  Toronto  children 
in  this  period  is,  therefore,  about  twice  that  of  the  New  York 
children.  A  number  of  factors  may  be  cited  in  explanation  of 
this  condition:  First  may  be  mentioned  the  difference  in  the 
racial  composition  of  the  children  in  the  several  cities,  there 
being  a  preponderance  of  Jewish  and  Italian  children  among 
those  covered  by  the  present  investigation.  Again,  the  New 
York  children  are  a  selected  group,  the  taller  and  heavier  being 
generally  the  first  to  leave  school  to  apply  for  work  papers. 
This  results  in  the  height  at  the  beginning  (age  14)  being  some- 
what greater  than  that  of  the  children  who  remained  in  school, 
and  thus  reduces  the  amount  of  gain  in  height  in  the  period 
under  observation.  We  shall  meet  with  like  differences  when 
we  take  up  other  characteristics  of  the  New  York  children. 

WEIGHTS 

The  weights  of  these  children  were  taken  in  ordinary 
clothing,  to  the  nearest  quarter-pound.  Boys'  jackets  were 
not  removed,  but  outer  cloaks  were  removed.  The  Depart- 
ment of  Health  had  no  data  on  the  average  weight  of  the 
children's  clothes.  Bowditch,  however,  is  authority  for  the 
statement  that  the  average  weight  of  the  clothes  of  boys  at 
14  years  is  8.09  pounds;  of  boys  at  15  years,  8.08  pounds; 
of  girls  at  14  years,  7.54  pounds;  and  of  girls  at  15  years,  7.85 


pounds.*     Table  5  gives  the  distribution  of  the  children  by 
weight  in  five-pound  groups  for  the  two-year  period 

TABLE   5 

Number  and  Percentage  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16,  for 

Each   Five   Pounds    of   Weight;   Also   Average 

Weights,  Standard  Deviations  and 

Quartile  Weights 


WEIGHT 

(Pounds) 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

Number 

Per  cent. 

Number 

Per  cent. 

65-  69.... 

3 
15 
182 
396 
394 
522 
601 
622 
554 
551 
476 
391 
237 
165 
102 
58 
52 
23 
19 
7 
23 

0.06 
0.28 
3.37 
7.34 
7.31 
9.68 
11.14 
11.53 
10.27 
10.22 
8.83 
7.25 
4.39 
3.06 
1.89 
1.08 
0.96 
0.43 
0.35 
0.13 
0.43 

1 

7 

80 
227 
330 
480 
624 
655 
566 
506 
417 
269 
178 
113 
69 
36 
20 
23 
8 
12 
29 

0.02 
0.15 
1.72 
4.88 
7.10 
10.32 
13.42 
14.09 
12.17 
10.88 
8.97 
5.78 
3.83 
2.43 
1.48 
0.77 
0.43 
0.49 
0.17 
0.26 
0.62 

70-  74.  . 

75-  79.  . 

80-  84.  . 

85-  89.  . 

90-  94.  . 

95-  99.  . 

100-104.  . 

105-109.  . 

110-114.  .    . 

115-119  

120-124  

125-129  

130-134  

135-139  

140-144  

145-149  

150-154  

155-159  

160-164  

165  and  over..  

Total 

5,393 

100.00 

4,650 

100.00 

Average  weight , 

Standard  deviation  (a) . .. . 

First  quartile 

Second  quartile  (Median). 
Third  quartile 


BOYS 
(Pounds) 

105.71 

17.25±.112 

93.31 
104.57 
117.03 


GIRLS 
(Pounds) 

105.73 

16.00±.112 

95.18 
104.27 
115.01 


For  both  boys  and  girls  the  lowest  weight  noted  was  in  the 
group  65  to  69  pounds;  the  heaviest  boy  was  over  205  pounds, 
the  heaviest  girl  over  220  pounds.  The  distribution  of  weights, 
unlike  the  distribution  of  heights,  is  rather  skew. 

The  average  weight  in  each  case  is  greater  than  the  median. 
The  average  weight  for  boys  for  the  two  years  under  discus- 
sion is  105.71  pounds;  the  median,  104.57  pounds.  The  aver- 
age for  girls  is  105.73,  and  the  median  104.27  pounds. 

*The  weights  of  the  clothes  of  the  children  in  the  Hebrew  Orphan  Asylum 
are  as  follows:  For  boys  at  age  fourteen,  6  pounds;  at  age  fifteen,  6.75 
pounds;  for  girls,  at  age  fourteen,  4  pounds;  and  at  age  fifteen,  4.50  pounds. 

10 


Although  the  average  weights  of  the  boys  and  girls  for  the 
two-year  period  are  nearly  identical,  being  respectively  105.71 
and  105.73  pounds,  the  boys  show  a  greater  amount  of  variation 
in  weight  than  the  girls.  The  standard  deviation  for  the  boys 
is  17.25  pounds,  and  for  the  girls  16.00  pounds.  Moreover, 
the  interquartile  range — that  is,  the  difference  between  the 
third  and  first  quartiles — is  23.72  pounds  for  the  boys,  and  only 
19.83  pounds  for  the  girls.  Since  one-half  of  the  children  are 
included  within  these  limits,  it  is  clear,  as  was  the  case  with  the 
heights,  that  the  boys  show  a  greater  variability  than  the  girls. 

GRAPH  C 

Number  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16,  for  Each  Five  Pounds 
of  Weight ;  Also  at  Average,  Median  and  Quartile  Weights 


10-    115-    120-   125-   130-    135-  140-    145-   160-    155-    160-    165-    170- 
jhts  in  Five  Pound  Groups 


These  facts  are  portrayed  in  Graph  C.  The  girls  cluster 
more  closely  about  the  average  than  the  boys.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  position  of  the  first  quartile  point  for  boys 
is  93.31  pounds,  which  is  considerably  below  the  corresponding 
point  for  the  girls,  namely,  95.18  pounds.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  third  quartile  point  for  boys  is  117.03,  as  against  115.01 
for  girls.  These  differences  are  even  more  marked  when  we 
observe  the  relation  of  weights  of  boys  to  those  of  girls  during 
the  two  individual  years.  This  will  incidentally  show  the 
amount  of  gain  in  weight  of  boys  and  girls  during  the  year. 

11 


Table  6  gives  average  weights  for  each  of  the  eight  quarter- 
year  periods  and  for  each  sex. 

TABLE  6 

Number  and  Average  Weight  of  Boys  and  Girls  for  Ages  14  to  15 
and  15  to  16  and  for  Each  Quarter-year 


AGE- 
PERIOD 

AND 

SEX 

WHOLE  YEAR 

FIRST  QUARTER 

SECOND  QUARTER 

THIRD  QUARTER 

FOURTHQUARTER 

No.  of 
Children 

Average 
Weight 
(Pounds) 

No.  of 
Children 

Average 
Weight 
(Pounds) 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Weight 
(Pounds) 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Weight 
(Pounds) 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Weight 
(Pounds) 

Age  14-15 
Boys 
Girls 

3,405 
2,827 

103.38 
104.54 

1,216 
1,033 

101.52 
104.28 

786 
591 

102.55 
104.02 

724 
623 

103.97 
105.87 

679 
580 

107.05 
104.10 

Age  15-16 
Boys 
Girls 

1,988 
1,823 

109.69 
107.57 

698 
616 

107.44 
107.31 

565 
525 

110.36 
106.92 

446 
409 

110.87 
108.55 

279 
273 

112.08 
107.89 

Graph  D  exhibits  the  average  weights  for  the  successive 
quarter-year  periods. 

GRAPH  D 

Average  Weight  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16,  at  each 
Quarter-year  Period 


112 
110 

^  108 
J 

JE 

1,0, 
104 
102 

100 
Age 

Ho.  of 
Children 

BOYS 
GIRLS 

112.08 

112 
110 

108 
106 
104 
102 

fotal 
5393 
*650 



110.36--      •""""" 

^^» 

' 

/ 

/ 

f  Off.  55 

s'    "*"** 

I  U  I  _  LI  I                  ~~ 

^~. 

•  —  ^ot»2 

> 

;7       I 

\x/ 

^ 

"%T 

14-1  4l  yrs. 
(BO,.    1216 

(Cirlt    1033 

14l-14lyr,. 
786 
591 

141  -14  j-  yrs. 
724 
623 

14^  -15  yrs. 
679 
680 

15-15j-  yrs. 
698 
616 

15l-15lyrs. 
565 
525 

15l-15iyrs. 

440 
4f/9 

15i  -16  yrs. 
279 
273 

12 


The  weight  of  the  boys  increases  at  a  fairly  steady  rate. 
Starting  with  an  average  of  101.52  pounds  in  the  first  quarter, 
the  weights  increase  regularly  until  in  the  last  quarter  of  the 
16th  year  they  attain  an  average  of  112.08  pounds.  This  is 
a  gain  of  10.56  pounds  during  the  period.  For  the  girls,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  weights  exhibit  fluctuations  from  one 
period  to  another.  There  is,  for  instance,  a  sudden  drop  in 
weight  from  the  third  quarter  to  the  following  period.  This 
condition  has  already  been  noted  in  the  heights  of  the  girls  at 
the  same  ages.  In  the  two  years  under  consideration,  the 
girls  gain  3.61  pounds,  or  only  about  one- third  as  much  as 
the  boys  gain.  The  girls  in  the  seventh  quarter  show  the 
greatest  average  weight,  108.55  pounds;  those  in  the  second 
quarter  show  the  lowest  average  weight,  104.02  pounds.  The 
-girls  are  heavier  than  the  boys  in  the  first  three  quarters,  but 
the  boys  surpass  them  in  weight  at  every  subsequent  quarter. 

In  order  to  compare  the  growth  in  weight  of  the  New  York 
children  with  those  reported  upon  by  other  investigators,  it  is 
necessary,  as  in  the  case  of  heights,  to  give  the  growth  of  our 
children  during  the  period  14|  to  15J.  On  this  basis,  the  New 
York  boys  show  an  increase  in  weight  from  103.38  pounds  at 
14|  to  109.69  at  15j,  or  a  gain  of  6.31  pounds.  The  girls  start 
at  104.54  pounds  at  14J,  and  increase  to  107.57  pounds  at  15J, 
gaining  3.03  pounds.  Bowditch's  data  show  that  the  Boston 
boys  gain  12.19  pounds  and  the  girls  7.65  pounds.  Boas  found 
in  the  case  of  Worcester  boys  an  increase  of  15.6  pounds,  and  in 
the  case  of  Worcester  girls,  an  increase  of  5.6  pounds,  dur- 
ing the  same  period.  Here,  too,  Boas'  figures  are  more  in  har- 
mony with  Bowditch's  than  with  ours.  Our  children  show  an 
increase  in  weight  only  one-half  as  large  as  the  children  of  the 
other  cities,  a  condition  like  that  shown  for  heights,  and  ex- 
plained in  the  same  way. 

RELATION  OF  WEIGHT  TO  HEIGHT 

We  have  so  far  limited  ourselves  to  a  consideration  of 
height  and  weight  without  reference  to  the  relations  that  these 
two  bear  to  each  other.  We  shall  now  proceed  to  consider 
them  in  their  related  aspects,  for  weights,  especially  of  grow- 
ing children,  are  in  large  measure  determined  by  height.  Table 
7  gives  the  average  weights  of  boys  and  girls  for  each  inch  of 
height  for  the  two-year  period  14  to  16.* 

*A  more  detailed  presentation  of  the  average  weights  for  each  half -inch 
of  height  at  each  quarter-year  period  is  given  in  Table  19 — Parts  A-B — 
Appendix  II. 


TABLE  7 

Number  and  Average  Weights  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16 
for  Each  Inch  of  Height 


HEIGHT 
(Inches) 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

Number 

Average  Weight 
(Pounds) 

Number 

Average  Weight 
(Pounds) 

Under  54 

4 
18 

71 
129 
250 
384 
470 
641 
650 
666 
6C5 
527 
389 
268 
155 
76 
90 

85.13 
83.19 
80.49 
82.74 
85.98 
88.06 
92.67 
98.17 
102.68 
107.20 
111.27 
116.67 
120.11 
124.74 
131.28 
132.99 
139.15 

7 
11 
17 
76 
152 
357 
542 
822 
782 
694 
512 
321 
180 
107 
47 
14 
9 

98.50 
84.95 
91.41 
89.51 
91.37 
96.32 
98.32 
102.61 
106.14 
108.23 
111.65 
115.28 
118.04 
122.86 
132.89 
128.43 
136.06 

54..         

55  

56  

57  

58  

59  

60  

61  

62  

63  

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69  and  over  

Total  

5,393 

105.71 

4,650 

105.73 

GRAPH  E 
Average  Weight  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16,  for  Each  Inch  of  Height 


132 
128 
124 
120 
116 

*112 

1 

C108 

£ 
01 

£  104 

100 
96 
92 
88 
84 

JOYS 
SIRLS 

,3 

•'•\ 

132.00 

132 
128 
124 
120 
116 
112 
108 
104 
100 
96 
92 
88 
84 
80 



I 

13 

E 

V, 

124 

J 

/ 

//>" 

aa 

11 

*''"• 

04 

.aa 

ro 

..v; 

x' 

.27 

10 

r' 

X°' 

20 

10 

/ 

X- 

68 

»< 

P 
.32  X^ 

X 

/' 

7 

, 

/ 

/ 

67 

' 

7" 

>,-: 

••*? 

/ 

7 

94.  fS 

J 

3 

J 

0 

X 

" 

55  56  57  58  59  60  61  62  63  64  65  66  67  68  69 

Heights  in  Inches 


14 


Graph  E  shows  clearly  the  essential  facts  in  this  relation. 
Two  points  stand  out: 

1.  Weight  increases  with  height.     The  only  exception  is  at 
the  extremes  of  height  in  our  series,  where  the  number  of  cases 
is  entirely  too  small  to  give  a  correct  picture  of  the  interre- 
lation.    Beginning  with   55   inches   among  the  boys  and  56 
inches  among  the  girls,  and  continuing  upward  for  the  boys 
without  exception,  and  for  the  girls  to  height  67  inches,  the 
weights  increase  steadily  with  every  successive  inch  of  height. 
The  actual  increase  in  weight  for  every  inch  of  height  varies 
somewhat  for  the  several  heights,  and  also  for  the  two  sexes. 
In  Table  8  (page  16)  we  give  figures  which  present  the  relation 
of  weight  to  height,  smoothed  so  as  to  eliminate  some  of  the 
fortuitous  variations  that  make  the  lines  in  the  graph  rather 
irregular. 

2.  The  girls  are  heavier  than  boys  for  any  given  height  up 
to  about  63  inches.     Beyond  this  height,  the  boys  outweigh 
the  girls.     The  sole  exception  is  the  extreme  upper  limit  of 
height,  where  the  fewness  of  cases  again  mars  the  reliability 
of  our  data.     This  phenomenon  is  consistent  with,  although 
somewhat  different  from,  the  findings  of  other  authors.      Bow- 
ditch,  for  example,  points  out  that  girls  are  heavier  than  boys 
up  to  58  inches.     Above  that  point  the  reverse  is  true.     He 
finds  that  the  height  of  58  inches  is  attained  on  the  average  in 
the  14th  year.     The  fact  that  our  figures  cover  the  age- period 
of  14  to  16  only  may  in  part  explain  the  difference  in  the  values 
of  the  crossing  point  in  our  investigation. 

The  above  relations,  which  cover  the  two  years  combined, 
are,  with  but  slight  exceptions,  true  for  each  of  the  individual 
years.  In  the  first  year,  namely,  14  to  15,  the  point  where 
the  boys  overtake  the  girls  is  about  62.6  inches.  In  the  next 
year  it  is  approximately  63.4  inches. 

As  might  be  expected  from  the  smaller  number  of  cases  in 
each  individual  year,  the  fluctuations  in  the  weights  for  the 
successive  inches  of  height  are  somewhat  more  marked  than 
in  the  two-year  period.  It  has  therefore  seemed  desirable,  in 
order  to  correct  for  the  fluctuations  resulting  from  the  paucity 
of  data,  to  "smooth"  the  series  of  weights.  These  figures  are 
given  in  Table  8: 


15 


TABLE  8 


Number  of  Boys  and  Girls,  and  Actual  and  Smoothed  Weights 

for  Each  Inch  of  Height,  for  the  Years  14  to  15  and 

15  to  16 


HEIGHT 

(Inches) 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

AGE  14  TO  15 

AGE  15  TO  16 

AGE  14  TO  15 

AGE  15  TO  16 

1 

If 

Smoothed 
Weight 

a 

l! 
f-i 

Smoothed 
Weight 

jj 

|l 

Smoothed 
Weight 

11 

If 

I 

Under  54. 
54  
55 

2 
13 
59 
96 
190 
283 
349 
440 
434 
400 
355 
307 
200 
137 
78 
34 
28 

84.00 
82.27 
80.87 
83.27 
85.56 
88.03 
91.92 
97.47 
102.37 
107.03 
110.80 
116.58 
119.67 
124.09 
129.95 
135.01 
137.86 

79.74 
80.80 
82.74 
85.46 
88.83 
92.73 
97.06 
101.68 
106.48 
111.35 
116.17 
120.81 
125.17 
129.12 
132.55 

2 
5 
12 
33 
60 
101 
121 
201 
216 
266 
250 
220 
189 
131 
77 
42 
62 

86.25 
85.60 
78.62 
81.23 
87.28 
88.14 
94.85 
99.72 
103.28 
107.45 
111.92 
116.81 
120.58 
125.41 
132.64 
131.35 
139.73 

77.05 
79.75 
82.89 
86.40 
90.24 
94.33 
98.64 
103.09 
107.63 
112.21 
116.77 
121.25 
125.60 
129.75 
133.66 

4 
8 
10 
47 
102 
247 
356 
513 
474 
409 
296 
167 
102 
56 
23 
6 
7 

78.63 
81.94 
90.35 
89.47 
90.04 
95.25 
97.49 
102.07 
105.80 
107.57 
110.67 
114.76 
117.12 
122.31 
132.65 
129.33 
144.29 

83.28 
86.26 
89.23 
92.21 
95.20 
98.25 
101.38 
104.60 
107.94 
111.43 
115.08 
118.92 
122.97 
127.24 
131.78 

3 
3 

7 
29 
50 
110 
186 
309 
308 
285 
216 
154 
79 
51 
24 
8 
2 

125.00 
91.0Q. 
92.86 
89.57. 
94.07 
98.73 
99.87 
103.17 
107.02 
109.18 
112.99 
115.09 
119.22 
123.47 
133.13 
127.75 
107.25 

95.12 
95.89 
97.53 
99.88 
102.79 
106.08 
109.61 
113.22 
116.75 
120.05 
122.96 
125.30 
126.93 

56  
57  

58  
59 

60  

61 

62  

63 

64  
65  

66  
67  

68  
69  and  over 

Total 

3,405 

103.38 

— 

1,988 

109.69 

— 

2,827 

104.54 

— 

1,823 

107.57 

— 

The  "smoothed"  values  in  this  table  will  serve  health 
officers  and  others  as  a  more  satisfactory  standard  than  the 
actual  averages,  since  the  former  are  based  on  the  assumption 
that  the  law  which  operates  for  the  bulk  of  the  material  also 
holds  good  at  the  extremes.*  An  examination  of  this  table 
shows  that  with  an  increase  of  one  inch  in  height,  there  is  an 
increase  in  weight  ranging  from  three  to  five  pounds  for  each 
sex  and  for  each  year. 

*The  "smoothed"  series  of  average  weights  was  obtained  in  the 
following  manner:  We  denoted  heights  in  inches  by  x,  and  weights  in 
pounds  by  y.  We  then  assumed  that  for  each  value  of  x,  the  proper  value 
for  y  was  obtained  from  the  equation 

y  -  80  =  a  +  b  (x  -  61)  +  c  (x  -  61)2   +  d  (x  -  61)3 

for  certain  values  of  the  coefficients.     The  latter  were  evaluated  by  the 
method  of  "least  squares."     On  this  basis,  we  obtained  the  equations 

y  -  80  =  21.68  +  4.73  (x  -  61)  +  .09  (x  -  61)2  -  .02  (x  -  61)3 
y  -  80  =  23.09  +  4.51  (x  -  61)  +  .05  (*  -  61)2  -  .01  (x  -  61)3 
y  -  80  =  24.60  +  3.28  (x  -  61)  +  .06  (x  -  61)2  +  .004(*  -  61)3 
y  -  80  =  26.08  +  3.44  (x  -  61)  +  .12  (x  -  61)2  -  .03  (x  -  61):i 

giving,  respectively,  the  relations  of  weight  to  height  for  boys  14  to  15 
years,  boys  15  to  16  years,  girls  14  to  15  years,  and  girls  15  to  16  years. 


16 


The  measure  of  the  dependence  of  weight  on  height  is  given 
by  the  coefficient  of  correlation  between  the  two.  The  follow- 
ing table  gives  the  coefficients  of  correlation  of  weight  with 
height  for  the  two  sexes,  for  each  of  the  two  years: 

TABLE  9 

Coefficients  of  Correlation  of  Height  and  Weight  * 
Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  15  and  15  to  16 


AGE-PERIOD 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

14  to  15. 

.776-+-  .0046 

.499-+-  .0095 

15  to  16 

.759-K0064 

.439-1-  .0128 

These  coefficients  show  that,  within  narrow  limits,  particu- 
lar weights  are  associated  with  definite  heights,  and  vice  versa. 
The  heights  and  weights  increase  and  decrease  together  in  close 
correspondence.  This  is  particularly  true  for  the  boys,  as  is 
shown  by  the  high  correlation  obtaining  in  their  case.  In 
regard  to  the  girls  the  correlation  is  not  so  high,  but  is  none 
the  less  significant;  the  coefficient  in  their  case  being  at  least 
as  high  as  that  found  by  Pearson  for  the  inheritance  from  parent 
to  child  of  physical  characteristics.  The  lesser  correlation  for 
girls  than  for  boys  signifies  that  for  any  given  height  the  girls 
range  over  a  greater  series  of  weights  than  do  the  boys.  This 
will  be  seen  more  clearly  in  Table  16  (page  37)  which  contains 
the  standard  deviations  from  the  average  weights  for  each  inch 
of  height.  This  is  an  interesting  phenomenon  in  view  of  the 
fact  that,  as  we  have  seen,  their  total  range  of  variation  is 
smaller.  It  will  also  be  noted  from  Table  9  that  the  corre- 
lations decrease  with  age  in  the  case  of  both  the  boys  and  the 
girls. 

The  above  coefficients  of  correlation  are  uniformly  lower 
than  those  found  by  Boas  in  his  study  of  the  Worcester  chil- 
dren. Thus,  at  the  age  14  to  15,  his  figure  is  .87  for  boys  and 
.74  for  girls.  In  agreement  with  Boas,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
the  fact  that  the  coefficient  of  correlation  for  boys  is  greater 
than  that  for  girls  in  each  year,  and  also  that  there  is  a  decrease 
in  the  value  of  the  coefficient  for  each  sex  with  an  increase  in 

*  These  values  are  based  on  figures  presented  in  detail  in  Table  20, 
Parts  A-D,  Appendix  II. 

17 


age.  The  Boas  figure  for  girls  of  age  15  to  16  is  .57.  This  is 
not  so  much  larger  than  the  figure  we  find,  namely,  .44.  An 
important  factor  to  be  considered  in  this  comparison  is  the 
fact  that  the  coefficients  submitted  by  Professor  Boas  are  com- 
puted uniformly  on  a  small  number  of  cases,  and  this  accounts 
in  some  measure  for  the  differences  in  the  two  sets  of  figures. 
It  is  also  important  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  coefficients  of  the 
New  York  children  correlate  height  in  shoes  with  weight  in 
clothes.  The  heights,  and  presumably  the  weights,  of  the 
Worcester  children  were  taken  without  shoes.  The  effect  of 
this  on  the  two  sets  of  figures  does  not  lend  itself  readily  to 
calculation. 

RELATION  OF  HEIGHT  AND  WEIGHT  TO  SCHOOL  GRADE 

Students  of  the  growth  of  school  children  have  found  that 
there  is  a  very  high  positive  correlation  between  physical  and 
intellectual  development.  Attention  was  directed  to  this  fact 
especially  by  Porter  in  his  study  of  St.  Louis  children.  Confir- 
mation was  later  given  by  Smedley  for  Chicago  children,  and 
by  Boas  for  Worcester  children.  These  authors  have  pointed 
out  that  in  the  advanced  grades  pupils  are  heavier  and  taller 
than  the  pupils  of  the  same  age  in  the  lower  grades.  Con- 
versely, children  who  are  retarded  in  grade  are  also  retarded 
in  their  physical  measurements.  Cramp  ton,  in  his  valuable 
monograph  on  physiological  age,  presents  data  for  New  York 
school  children  which  clearly  confirm  these  findings;  his  inter- 
pretation, however,  is  somewhat  different,  since  he  emphasizes 
pubescence  as  the  determining  factor  which  accounts  not  only 
for  the  advance  in  school  grade,  but  also  for  the  physical 
characteristics,  such  as  height  and  weight.  We  are  at  present 
not  concerned  with  the  complications  involved  in  a  consider- 
ation of  pubescence,  since  our  material  does  not  contain  any 
facts  with  reference  to  this  condition.  These  findings  add  in- 
terest, however,  to  the  results  obtained  in  our  investigation. 
The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  boys  and  girls,  and 
their  average  height  and  weight  in  each  of  the  school  grades, 
at  the  half-year  periods. 


18 


TABLE  10 

Number  and  Percentage  and  Average  Height  and  Weight  of 

New  York  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16 

Classified  by  School  Grade  and  Half-year  Age-periods 


AGE  AND  GRADE 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

No.  of 
Children 

Per- 
centage 

Average 
Height 
(Inches) 

Average 
Weight 
(Pounds) 

No.  of 
Children 

Per- 
centage 

Average 
Height 
(Inches) 

Average 
Weight 
(Pounds) 

14  to  16  yrs. 
All  grades  .  .  . 

7A.. 

5,393 

100.0 

61.99 

105.71 

4,650 

100.0 

61.36 

105.79 

1,924 
629 
416 
467 
1,647 
287 
5 
18 

35.7 
11.7 
7.7 
8.7 
30.5 
5.3 
.1 
.3 

61.92 
61.51 
62.17 
62.16 
62.10 
62.40 
63.95 
59.64 

105.88 
103.56 
106.64 
107.14 
105.58 
106.77 
112.70 
97.22 

1,607 
586 
394 
297 
1,461 
287 
1 
17 

34.6 
12.6 
8.5 
6.4 
31.4 
6.2 

.4 

61.10 
61.27 
61.49 
61.77 
61.45 
61.72 
61.00 
62.07 

105.60 
105.22 
106.25 
106.21 
105.68 
107.94 
103.50 
99.48 

7B 

8A 

8B  
Graduates.  .  . 
High  School. 
Vocational.  .  . 
Unknown.  .  . 

14  to  14£  yrs. 
All  grades  .  .  . 

7A. 

2,002 

100.0 

61.29 

101.93 

1,623 

100.0 

61.15 

104.25 

731 
274 
170 
151 
593 
76 

7 

36.5 
13.7 
8.5 
7.5 
29.6 
3.8 

.3 

61.33 
61.08 
61.59 
61.18 
61.34 
61.10 

58.33 

102.22 
102.39 
103.32 
101.16 
101.41 
100.93 

91.07 

615 

267 
159 
94 
405 
80 

3 

37.9 
16.5 
9.8 
5.8 
25.0 
4.9 

.2 

60.82 
61.16 
61.24 
61.56 
61.47 
61.33 

62.83 

103.80 
103.99 
104.88 
104.29 
104.46 
106.36 

101.17 

7B.. 

8A 

8B  
Graduates.  .  . 
High  School.. 
Vocational.  .  . 
Unknown.  .  . 

14£  to  15  yrs. 

All  grades  .  .  . 

7A.. 

1,403 

100.0 

61.92 

105.46 

1,203 

100.0 

61.25 

105.03 

515 
159 
101 
126 
412 
86 

4 

36.7 
11.3 
7.2 
9.0 
29.4 
6.1 

.3 

62.02 
61.34 
61.90 
62.05 
61.94 
62.12 

62.31 

106.63 
102.61 
105.57 
107.17 
104.60 
105.19 

106.38 

435 
141 
99 
76 
390 
59 

3 

36.2 
11.7 
8.2 
6.3 
32.4 
4.9 

.2 

61.02 
61.36 
61.59 
61.79 
61.27 
61.33 

60.92 

105.54 
104.06 
107.30 
103.55- 
104.41 
105.86 

103.83 

7B. 

8A. 

8B  
Graduates.  .  . 
High  School. 
Vocational  .  . 
Unknown.  .  . 

15  to  15*  yrs. 

All  grades  .  .  . 

7A... 
7B  
8A   

1,263 

100.0 

62.58 

108.75 

1,141 

100.0 

61.41 

107.13 

445 
138 
102 
120 
373 
76 
2 
7 

35.2 
10.9 
8.1 
9.5 
29.5 
6.0 
.2 
.6 

62.38 
62.10 
62.96 
62.98 
62.68 
63.12 
67.00 
59.43 

108.56 
104.72 
110.24 
112.64 
108.54 
110.74 
118.50 
98.15 

362 
105 
88 
76 
407 
96 
1 
6 

31.7 
9.2 
7.7 
6.7 
35.7 
8.4 
.1 
.5 

61.34 
60.97 
61.77 
61.86 
61.23 
62.17 
61.00 
62.54 

107.20 
105.93 
107.15 
107.  68. 
106.51 
110.69- 
103.50 
102.83 

8B  
Graduates.  .  . 
High  School. 
Vocational  .  . 
Unknown  

15i  to  16  yrs. 

All  grades  .  .  . 

7A.  ., 

725 

100.0 

63.03 

111.33 

683 

100.0 

61.98 

108.58 

233 
58 
43 
70 
269 
49 
3 

32.1 
8.0 
5.9 
9.7 
37.1 
6.8 
.4 

62.71 
62.61 
63.27 
63.09 
63.23 
63.80 
61.92 

110.56 
108.96 
113.73 
110.53 
112.17 
112.46 
108.83 

195 
73 
48 
51 
259 
52 

5 

28.6 
10.7 
7.0 
7.5 
37.9 
7.6 

.7 

61.71 
61.92 
61.61 
61.98 
62.05 
61.92 

61.50 

108.44 
110.93 
107.01 
111.50 
108.18 
107.67 

86.75 

7B  . 

8A. 

8B  

Graduates.  .  . 
High  School. 
Vocational.  .  . 
Unknown.  .  .  . 

19 


With  reference  to  height,  it  is  seen  from  Table  10  that  the 
boys  in  grade  7A  are  invariably  taller  than  those  in  the  next 
higher  grade.  This  is  true  in  each  one  of  the  age-periods. 
This  condition  is  directly  opposed  to  the  findings  of  the  other 
investigators.  On  the  other  hand,  boys  show  increasing  heights 
from  grade  7B  through  8B  for  the  two  age-periods  14J  to  15, 
and  15  to  15J.  The  graduates  are  taller  than  the  7 A  boys  in 
every  half-year  except  the  second.  Similarly,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  first  half-year,  the  high  school  boys  are  taller  than 
the  7A  boys.  When  we  consider  the  two-year  period  as  a 
whole,  the  high  school  boys  are  markedly  taller  than  the  boys 
in  7A. 

The  girls  present  a  lesser  departure  than  the  boys,  from 
what  we  should  expect  on  the  basis  of  other  investigations. 
In  the  first  and  second  half-years  there  is  a  definite  increase  in 
height  from  grade  7 A  to  8B.  In  the  third  half-year  this  con- 
dition is  limited  to  grades  7B,  8A  and  8B.  Graduates  are 
taller  than  the  7A's  in  the  first,  second  and  fourth  half-years. 
The  high  school  girls  are  taller  than  the  7A's  in  every  half- 
year.  For  the  two  years  combined,  girls  show  a  steady  in- 
crease in  height  from  grade  7 A  to  grade  8B.  The  graduates 
and  high  school  girls  are  shorter  than  the  8B  girls,  but  mark- 
edly taller  than  those  in  grade  7A. 

The  relations  of  weight  to  school  grade  are  slightly  differ- 
ent. For  the  boys  the  weights  increase  in  the  second  and  third 
half-years  for  grades  7B,  8 A  and  8B.  In  the  first  half-year  the 
weights  of  boys  increase  from  grade  7A  to  8A,  while  the  weights 
of  8B,  graduate,  and  high  school  children  fall  below  those  for 
grade  7A.  In  the  second  half-year,  the  7A  boys  are  heavier 
than  those  in  all  the  other  grades,  except  8B.  The  graduates 
and  high  school  boys  are  lighter  than  the  boys  in  7 A  in  the 
first  and  second  half-years.  In  the  third  half-year  the  7A  boys 
are  slightly  heavier  than  the  graduates,  but  lighter  than  the 
high  school  boys.  In  the  fourth  half-year  both  the  graduates 
and  the  high  school  boys  outweigh  those  in  7A. 

The  girls  in  the  first  half-year  show  an  increase  in  weight 
for  grades  7A,  7B  and  8A.  Graduates  are  heavier  than  7A 
children,  and  the  high  school  girls  even  more  so.  In  the  sec- 
ond half-year  the  weights  fluctuate  from  grade  to  grade,  the 
7A  children  being  heavier  than  the  others,  except  for  grade  8A 
and  high  school  girls.  In  the  third  half-year  the  weight  in- 
creases for  grades  7B,  8A  and  8B.  Here  the  7 A  children  are 

20 


heavier  than  the  graduates,  but  lighter  than  the  high  school 
students.  In  the  fourth  half-year,  the  weights  fluctuate  again, 
the  graduates  and  high  school  children  weighing  less  than  those 
of  7A.  For  the  two-year  period  as  a  whole,  high  school  girls 
are  considerably  heavier  than  the  girls  in  any  of  the  lower 
grades. 

While  our  results  agree  in  the  main  with  those  of  previous 
observers  there  are  nevertheless  striking  exceptions  which  would 
suggest  extreme  caution  in  inferring  a  positive  correlation 
between  height  and  weight  and  school  grade  in  children  re- 
ceiving employment  certificates.  The  direct  relations  are 
neither  as  marked  nor  as  constant  as  found  by  other  observers. 
It  would,  therefore,  seem  that  the  children  in  our  investigation 
have  certain  special  characteristics  which  mark  them  as  a 
selected  group,  rather  than  as  a  fair  sample  of  New  York 
boys  and  girls  in  the  age-period  14  to  16.  It  should  be  re- 
membered that  the  boys  and  -girls  under  discussion  do  not 
represent  school  children  in  general,  but  only  those  who  were 
on  the  point  of  leaving  school  to  go  to  work.  The  various 
figures  appear  to  show  that  children  of  better  physique  go  to 
work  at  the  earliest  opportunity.  This  will  explain  the  anomaly 
that  our  children  of  7A  are  so  frequently  taller  and  heavier 
than  those  in  the  next  higher  grades.  The  more  delicate 
children  are  apparently  allowed  to  continue  their  schooling 
for  longer  periods  before  being  sent  to  work.  This  fact 
is  responsible  for  the  variations  from  the  findings  of  other 
observers. 

NATIONALITY 

Thus  far,  our  principal  concern  has  been  with  the  children 
as  a  group.  Our  data,  however,  permit  us  to  inquire  also  to 
some  extent  into  the  differences  in  the  physical  development 
of  our  boys  and  girls  which  may  be  attributed  to  their  several 
nationalities.  This  is  especially  interesting  in  view  of  the 
many  racial  groups  composing  the  population  of  New  York 
City,  and  the  important  and  perplexing  questions  that  con- 
stantly arise  in  the  adjustment  of  these  races  to  American 
conditions. 

It  has  not  been  possible  in  this  study  to  classify  the  material 
rigidly  on  the  basis  of  nationality  or  race  stock.  Instead,  the 
racial  terminology,  which  we  have  used  as  a  matter  of  con- 

21 


venience,  actually  combines  the  mother-tongue  and  nativity 
classification.  Our  first  group  includes  the  native-born  of 
native  parentage.  Contrasted  with  this  first  group  are  the 
native  and  foreign  born  of  foreign  parentage.  This  second 
group  has  been  further  subdivided  into-*  a  number  of  race 
stocks  as  far  as  was  possible.  Under  the  classification  "Jews" 
are  included  all  native  and  foreign  bora  children  of  foreign 
parentage  whose  mother-tongue  was  given  as  Yiddish.  In  like 
manner,  "Italians"  includes  those  whose  fathers  were  born 
in  Italy  and  whose  mother-tongue  was  Italian.  The  desig- 
nation "English,  Scotch  and  Irish"  covers  children  whose 
fathers  were  born  in  the  British  Isles  and  whose  mother-tongue 
was  given  as  either  English  or  Scotch.  "Germans"  includes 
those  whose  fathers  were  born  in  Germany  or  Austria  and 
whose  mother-tongue  was  given  as  German.  "Slavs"  are 
those  whose  mother-tongue  is  given  as  Russian,  Polish  or 
Slavic.  The  last  group,  "Other  Nationalities",  includes  all 
the  residual  cases. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  distribution  of  the  boys 
and  girls  by  nationality: 


TABLE  11 


Number  and  Percentage  of  Boys  and  Girls,  Classified 
by  Nationality  or  Race  Stock 


NATIONALITY 
OR    RACE    STOCK 

BOTH  SEXES 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

Number 

Percent, 
of  Total 

Number 

Percent, 
of  Total 

Number 

Per  cent, 
of  Total 

All  nationalities  or  race  stocks  

Native-born  of  native  parentage.  .  . 
Jews 

10,043 

100.0 

5,393 

100.0 

4,650 

100.0 

1,616 
3,671 
1,842 
1,099 
954 
282 
579 

16.1 
36.6 
18.3 
10.9 
9.5 
2.8 
5.8 

927 
1,938 
877 
670 
510 
146 
325 

17.2 
35.9 
16.3 
12.4 
9.5 
2.7 
6.0 

689 
1,733 
965 
429 
444 
136 
254 

14.8 
37.3 
20.8 
9.2 
9.5 
2.9 
5.5 

Italians 

English,  Scotch  and  Irish  
Germans  .                       

Slavs                            

Other  nationalities  

The  Jews  compose  the  largest  group  with  36.6%  of  the  total 
for  both  sexes.  Since  this  race  group  constitutes  at  best  only 
20%  of  the  population  of  New  York  City,  it  is  evident  that 
this  race  contributes  not  far  from  twice  its  quota  to  the  boys 

22 


and  girls  who  go  to  work  at  the  earliest  ages.  Their  nearest 
competitors  are  the  Italians,  but  they  are  only  half  as 
numerous,  forming  18.3%  of  the  total.  The  native-born  of 
native  parentage  form  the  third  group  with  16.1%  of  the 
total.  They  are  followed  by  the  British,  the  Germans  and  the 
Slavs  in  the  order  named. 

The  sex  distribution,  although  brought  out  in  the  foregoing 
table,  is  indicated  more  clearly  below.  Table  12  indicates  the 
percentage  of  each  sex  among  the  children  of  the  various 
nationalities 

TABLE   12 

Percentage  of  Boys  and  Girls  in  Each 
Nationality  or  Race  Stock 


NATIONALITY  OR  RACE  STOCK 

BOYS 
Per  cent. 

GIRLS 
Per  cent. 

All  nationalities  or  race  stocks 

53  7 

46  3 

Native-born  of  native  parentage 

57  4 

42  6 

Jews 

52  8 

47  2 

Italians    . 

47  6 

52  4 

English,  Scotch  and  Irish. 

61  0 

39  0 

Germans  .          ... 

53  5 

46  5 

Slavs.  .                      

51  8 

48  2 

Other  nationalities  

56  1 

43.9 

The  English,  Scotch  and  Irish  evidently  send  the  highest 
proportion  of  boys  to  work;  they  show  61.0%  of  boys,  and  only 
39.0%  of  girls.  Next  come  the  native-born  of  native  parentage, 
of  whom  57.4%  are  boys.  Germans,  Jews  and  Slavs  then  fol- 
low each  other  in  succession.  In  no  case  does  the  proportion 
of  boys  vary  greatly  from  the  average,  which  is  53.7%.  It  is 
only  among  Italians  that  we  find  the  relationship  reversed,  so 
that  the  girls  are  in  the  majority,  constituting  52.4%  of  the 
total  number  of  applicants. 

Table  13  indicates  the  average  height  and  weight  by  na- 
tionality, and  by  half-year  age- periods: 


23 


TABLE  13 

Number  and  Average  Height  and  Weight  of  New  York  Boys 
and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16 

Classified  by  Nationality  or  Race  Stock  and  by  Half-year  Age-periods 


NATIONALITY  OR  RACE 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

STOCK  AND  HALF-YEAR 
AGE-PERIOD 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Height 
in  Inches 

Average 
Weight 
in  Pounds 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Height 
in  Inches 

Average 
Weight 
in  Pounds 

ALL  NATIONALITIES 
OR  RACE  STOCKS: 

Age:  14   to  14f  yrs  

2,002 

61.29 

101.93 

1,624 

61  15 

104  19 

14£  to  15   yrs  

1,403 

61.92 

105.46 

1,203 

61.25 

105  03 

15   to  15|  yrs. 

1263 

62  58 

108  75 

1  141 

61  41 

107  13 

15|  to  16    yrs. 

725 

63  03 

111  33 

682 

61  89 

108  29 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

5,393 

61.99 

105.71 

4,650 

61.35 

105.73 

NATIVE-BORN  OF 
NATIVE  PARENTAGE: 

Age:  14    to  14|  yrs. 

332 

61  42 

100  79 

223 

62  13 

104  36 

14^  to  15    yrs  

236 

61.94 

103.87 

170 

62.56 

106.92 

15   to  IS^yrs  

235 

63.14 

109.76 

172 

62.38 

108.38 

15|  to  16   yrs  

124 

63.79 

114.00 

124 

62.57 

109.15 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

927 

62.31 

105.61 

689 

62.38 

106.86 

NATIVE-BORN  OP  FOREIGN  PAR- 
ENTAGE AND  FOREIGN-BORN: 

JEWS: 
Age*  14    to  14^  yrs. 

686 

61  35 

104.04 

525 

60.87 

105  05 

14|tol5    yrs... 

526 

61  85 

106  28 

461 

60.86 

105.57 

15   to  15^  yrs  

461 

62  31 

108  84 

464 

60.86 

107  44 

15£  to  16   yrs  

265 

62  87 

112.28 

283 

61.28 

108.21 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.. 

1,938 

61.92 

106.92 

1,733 

60.93 

106.34 

ITALIANS: 
Age:  14    to  14^  yrs. 

340 

60  50 

100  28 

427 

60.15 

103.20 

14|  to  15   yrs. 

222 

61  52 

107.26 

258 

60.33 

103.21 

15    to  15£  yrs  

208 

61  59 

106.95 

189 

60.32 

104.03 

15|  to  16   yrs  

107 

61.85 

108.34 

91 

60.90 

106.35 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

877 

61.18 

104.61 

965 

60.30 

103.66 

24 


TABLE  13— (Continued) 

Number  and  Average  Height  and  Weight  of  New  York  Boys 
and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16 

Classified   by  Nationality  or   Race  Stock  and  by  Half-year  Age-periods 


NATIONALITY  OR  RACE 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

STOCK  AND  HALF-YEAR 
AGE-PERIOD 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Height 
in  Inches 

Average 
Weight 
in  Pounds 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Height 
in  Inches 

Average 
,  Weight 
in  Pounds 

NATIVE-BORN  OP 
FOREIGN  PARENTAGE  AND 
FOREIGN-BORN:  (Continued.) 

ENGLISH,SCOTCHandIRISH: 
Age-  14    to  14!  yrs  

256 

61  20 

98  83 

124 

61  67 

100  95 

14!  to  15    yrs  

158 

62  15 

102  83 

101 

62  04 

103  67 

15    to  15!  yrs  

151 

62  88 

105  78 

128 

62  35 

106  27 

15!  to  16    yrs. 

105 

62  94 

105  85 

76 

63  06 

107  55 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

670 

62.07 

102.44 

429 

62.21 

104.35 

GERMANS: 
Age'  14    to  14!  yrs  

199 

61  71 

101  96 

170 

62  35 

106  86 

14!  to  15   yrs  
15    to  15!  yrs  

136 
108 

62.26 
63  50 

105.58 
112  71 

125 
95 

61.90 
62  63 

106.98 
109  97 

15|  to  16   yrs  

67 

63  66 

112  77 

54 

63  19 

112  47 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

510 

62.49 

106.62 

444 

62.39 

108.24 

RUSSIANS,  POLES  and 
BOHEMIANS: 

Age:  14    to  14!  yrs  
14|  to  15    yrs  

61 
40 

61.98 
62  10 

104.81 
104  45 

71 

28 

61.78 
61  46 

101.40 
101  66 

15   to  15|  yrs  

27 

63  87 

113  30 

25 

62  44 

110  67 

15!  to  16   yrs. 

18 

64  18 

119  81 

12 

62  15 

103  75 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

146 

62.63 

108.13 

136 

61.87 

103.37 

OTHER  NATIONALITIES: 

Age:  14   to  14!  vrs  

128 

61.89 

102.71 

84 

61  61 

105  14 

14!  to  15    yrs  

85 

62.33 

105.30 

60 

61.85 

103.13 

15    to  15!  yrs. 

73 

62  77 

108  67 

68 

61  88 

106  93 

15!  to  16   yrs  

39 

63.65 

113.04 

42 

62.30 

107.69 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

325 

62.42 

105.97 

254 

61.85 

105.57 

25 


Graph  F  shows  the  comparative  heights  of  boys  of  various 
nationalities  at  each  half-year  period.  The  Russians,  Poles 
and  Bohemians  are  not  plotted  on  the  graph,  because  the  small 
number  of  children  represented  by  these  race  stocks  mars  the 
validity  of  any  comparison  with  the  others. 


GRAPH  F 

Average  Heights  of  Boys  of  Various  Nationalities  at  Each 
Half-year  Period,  Ages  14  to  16 


I" 

X 


TIES 
OF  NATIVE 


ALL  NATIONA 

NATIVE  BORN 

JEWS 

GERMANS 

TALIANS 

ENGLISH,   SCOTCH,  &  IRISH 


Age  14-141  yrs. 


141-  -16  yrs. 


15-151  yrs. 


151.  -16  yrs. 


The  German  boys  are  tallest,  with  an  average  stature  of 
62.49  inches  for  the  two  years  combined.  Next  come  the  Amer- 
ican boys,  with  an  average  of  62.31,  and.  the  English,  Scotch 
and  Irish,  with  an  average  of  62.07.  These  three  groups  are 
taller  than  the  average  for  all  nationalities,  which  is  61.99. 
The  Jewish  boys  are  close  to  the  average,  with  a  stature  of 
61.92  inches,  while  the  Italians,  on  the  average,  attain  only 
61.18  inches. 

If  we  consider  the  amount  ol  growth,  however,  between 
age  14|  and  age  15 \ — that  is,  the  average  height  during  the 
second  year  minus  the  average  height  during  the  first — the 
sequence  is  only  slightly  different.  Americans  stand  at  the 
head,  with  an  average  gain  of  1.72  inches.  Next  come  Ger- 
mans, with  1.63  inches  of  growth,  and  English,  Scotch  and 
Irish  with  1.34  inches.  The  average  for  all  nationalities  is 
1.19  inches,  and  below  this  stand  Jews  with  .94  inch,  and  Ital- 
ians with  .78  inch. 


26 


Graph  G  illustrates  the  corresponding  data  for  girls. 

The  German  girls  average  62.39  inches  in  height;  the 
average  for  American  girls  is  only  .01  inch  less.  The  de- 
crease in  the  stature  of  German  girls,  from  62.35  inches  in  the 
first  half-year  to  61.90  inches  in  the  second  half-year,  is  per- 
haps due  to  a  selective  process,  the  taller  girls  being  the  more 
likely  to  be  sent  to  work  at  the  earlier  ages.  The  English, 
Scotch  and  Irish  girls  average  62.21  inches.  The  average  for 
all  nationalities  is  61.35  inches.  As  with  the  boys,  so  with  the 
girls  also,  Germans,  Americans  and  English  are  above  the 
average,  while  Jews  and  Italians  tend  to  fall  below ;  the  average 
statures  of  the  last  two  races  being  respectively  60.93  and 
60.30  inches. 

As  regards  the  gain  in  height  between  ages  14J  and  15  J,  the 
order  of  the  nationalities  presents  a  somewhat  different  aspect. 
British  girls  increase  by  .77  inch,  and  Germans  by  .67  inch. 
Below  the  general  average  of  .40  inch,  however,  are  Italians 
(.29  inch),  Jews  (.16  inch),  and  native  American  girls  of 
native  parentage,  who  gain  only  .14  inch. 


GRAPH  G 

Average  Heights  of  Girls  of  Various  Nationalities  at  Each 
Half-year  Period,  Ages  14  to  16 


£-16  yrs. 


27 


GRAPH  H 

Average  Weights  of  Boys  of  Various  Nationalities  at  Each 
Half-year  Period,  Ages  14  to  16 


Age   14-14^  yrs 


151  -16  yrs. 


Graph  H  shows  the  comparative  weights  of  the  boys  of 
different  nationalities. 

The  average  weight  for  all  nationalities  is  105.71  pounds, 
The  Jewish  and  the  German  boys  are  somewhat  above  the 
average  for  all  nationalities,  their  weights  for  the  two  years 
being  106.92  and  106.62  pounds  respectively.  The  American 
boys,  i.  e.,  native-born  of  native  parentage,  average  105.61 
pounds  for  the  two  years.  The  Italians  boys  are,  for  the  most 
part,  below  the  average  with  a  weight  of  104.61  pounds  for  the 
two  years.  English,  Scotch  and  Irish  boys  are  consistently 
lighter  in  weight  than  those  of  other  nationalities,  their  average 
weight  for  the  two  years  being  only  102.44  pounds. 

The  average  gain  in  weight  for  all  nationalities  is  6.31 
pounds  from  the  first  year  to  the  second.  German  and  Amer- 
ican boys  stand  at  the  head,  gaining  9.30  and  9.15  pounds, 
respectively.  Below  the  average  increase  are  the  British 
(5.45  pounds),  Jews  (5.09  pounds)  and  Italians  (4.38  pounds). 

28 


Graph  I  illustrates  the  corresponding  data  for  girls. 

German  girls  average  108.24  pounds,  outweighing  those  of 
other  nationalities.  American  girls  weigh  106.86  pounds. 
Jewish  girls  follow  closely  with  an  average  weight  of  106.34 
pounds.  All  of  these  are  above  the  average  for  all  nation- 
alities, which  is  105.73  pounds.  English,  Scotch  and  Irish 
girls  average  104.35  pounds.  After  them  come  Italian  girls 
with  103.66  pounds,  and  Slavs  with  103.37  pounds. 

The  British  girls  show  the  greatest  gain  in  weight,  4.58 
pounds,  from  age  14J  to  age  15 J.  Germans  gain  3.96  pounds, 
and  Americans  3.23  pounds.  The  average  for  all  nationalities 
is  3.02  pounds.  Below  the  average  are  Jews  (2.44  pounds) 
and  Italians  (1.58  pounds). 

In  view  of  the  preponderant  part  played  by  Jews  and  Ital- 
ians in  the  constitution  of  our  material,  it  has  been  of  special 
interest  to  enter  into  an  examination  of  these  groups  in  greater 
detail.  Table  14  (page  30)  indicates  the  average  height  and 
weight  of  Jewish  and  Italian  boys  and  girls  by  nativity  and 
by  half-year  age-periods 


GRAPH  I 

Average  Weights  of  Girls  of  Various  Nationalities  at  Each 
Half-year  Period,  Ages  14  to  16 


TABLE  14 


Number  and  Average  Height  and  Weight  of  Jewish  and 
Italian  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  16 

Classified  by  Native  and  Foreign  Birth,  and  by  Half-year  Age-periods 


"MATTONAT  TTY  OT?  "RAPF  ^TOPK 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

AND  HALF-YEAR  AGE-PERIODS 

No  of 
Chil- 

Average 
Height 

Average 
Weight 

No.  of 
Chil- 

Average 
Height 

Average 
Weight 

d-en 

in  Inches 

in  Pounds 

dren 

in  Inches 

in  Pounds 

JEWS: 

NATIVE-BORN 

Age*  14   to  14!  yrs. 

422 

61  37 

103  80 

293 

60  97 

104  20 

14!  to  15   yrs  

270 

62.08 

107.36 

251 

61.03 

106.17 

15   to  15!  yrs  

208 

62.50 

109.18 

241 

61.20 

108.77 

15!  to  16    yrs  

121 

63.40 

115.05 

140 

61.79 

109.85 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

1,021 

62.03 

107.17 

925 

61.17 

106.78 

FOREIGN-BORN 

Age:  14    to  14!  yrs  

264 

61.32 

104.42 

232 

60.74 

106.12 

14|  to  15    vrs  

256 

61.60 

105.14 

210 

60.65 

104.85 

15   to  15!  yrs  

253 

62.16 

108.55 

223 

60.49 

106.00 

15!  to  16    yrs  

144 

62.42 

109.96 

143 

60.78 

106.61 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

917 

61.80 

106.63 

808 

60.65 

105.84 

ITALIANS: 

NATIVE-BORN 

Age:  14   to  14!  yrs  

221 

60.60 

101.51 

306 

60.17 

103.72 

14!  to  15   yrs. 

144 

61  55 

108  21 

179 

60  29 

102  88 

15   to  15!  yrs. 

126 

61  45 

106  95 

119 

60  29 

104  53 

15!  to  16   yrs  

56 

61.57 

107.67 

54 

60.87 

108.07 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

547 

61.14 

105.16 

658 

60.28 

103.99 

FOREIGN-BORN 

Age:  14   to  14!  yrs  

119 

60.33 

97.99 

121 

60.09 

101.92 

14|  to  15   yrs  

78 

61.46 

105.51 

79 

60.41 

103.98 

15   to  15!  yrs  

82 

61.81 

106.96 

70 

60.38 

103.17 

15!  to  16   yrs  

51 

62.15 

109.07 

37 

60.94 

103.84 

Total—  14  to  16  yrs.  . 

330 

61.25 

103.71 

307 

60.34 

102.97 

30 


In  practically  every  case  the  native  Jewish  children  show 
improvement  over  the  foreign-born  Jewish  children,  both  in 
stature  and  in  weight.  This  is  seen  more  clearly  from  Graphs 
J  and  K. 

The  native  Jewish  boys,  starting  with  an  advantage  in 
their  favor  of  only  .05  inch  in  height  in  the  first  half-year, 
are  .48  inch  taller  in  the  second,  .34  inch  in  the  third,  and  .98 
inch  in  the  fourth,  with  an  average  of  .23  inch  for  the  two 
years. 

The  American-born  Jewish  girls  show  an  even  greater 
superiority  in  stature  over  the  foreign-born,  the  differences  in 
their  favor  amounting  to  .23,  .38,  .71  and  1.01  inches,  respec- 
tively, in  the  four  half-years,  with  an  average  of  .52  inch  for 
the  two  years. 


GRAPH  J 

Average  Heights  of  Native  and  Foreign  Born  Jewish  and  Italian 
Boys  and  Girls,  at  Each  Half-year  Period,  Ages  14  to  16 


NATIVE-BORN  JEWS 
FOREIGN-BORN   JEWS 
NATIVE-BORN    ITALIANS 
FOREIGN-BORN  ITALIANS 


GRAPH  K 

Average  Weights  of  Native  and  Foreign  Born  Jewish  and  Italian 
Boys  and  Girls,  at  Each  Half-year  Period,  Ages  14  to  16 


DATIVE-BORN    JEWS 
FOREIGN-BORN    JEWS 
NATIVE-BORN    ITALIANS 
RN   I 


Age  14-14  -j  yrs 


15i  16-yrs. 


In  weight  there  are  also  marked  differences,  as  is  seen  in 
Graph  K. 

In  the  first  half-year  the  American-born  Jewish  boys  are 
lighter  than  the  foreign-born  by  an  average  of  .62  pound. 
They  overtake  them,  however,  in  the  succeeding  period,  weigh- 
ing 2.22,  .63  and  5.09  pounds  more  in  the  second,  third  and 
fourth  half-years  respectively.  For  the  two-year  period  as  a 
whole,  native-born  Jewish  boys  are  .54  pound  heavier  than  the 
foreign-born. 

The  native-born  Jewish  girls  are  1.92  pounds  lighter  in 
the  first  half-year,  but  heavier  in  the  three  succeeding  half- 
years  by  1.32  pounds,  2.77  pounds  and  3.24  pounds,  respec- 
tively. For  the  two  years  taken  as  a  whole,  the  native-born 
Jewish  girls  are  .94  pound  heavier  than  the  foreign-born  girls 
of  this  race  stock. 

Among  Italians,  the  native  boys  are  .27  inch  taller  in  the 
first  half-year,  but  only  .09  inch  taller  in  the  second.  In  the 

32 


third  half-year  the  relationship  is  reversed,  and  the  foreign- 
born  actually  exceed  the  natives  in  stature  by  a  difference  of 
.36  inch.  In  the  fourth  half-year  the  superiority  of  the  native- 
born  is  regained,  the  difference  in  their  favor  being  .42  inch. 
For  the  two  years  as  a  whole,  native-born  Italian  boys  are  .  1 1 
inch^shorter  than  the  foreign-born.  Among  Italian  girls,  the 
native-born  are  taller  only  in  the  first  half-year,  by  the  narrow 
margin  of  .08  inch.  During  the  remaining  three  age-periods 
the  foreign-born  girls  have  the  advantage,  with  differences  of 
.12,  .09  and  .07  inch,  respectively.  For  the  two  years  as  a 
whole,  native-born  Italian  girls  are  .06  inch  shorter  than  the 
foreign-born. 

The  phenomena  of  weight  among  native  and  foreign  born 
Italian  children  are  quite  different,  however,  from  those  of 
height.  Among  boys,  natives  show  an  excess  of  weight  during 
the  first  two  half-years  with  differences  of  3.52  and  2.70  pounds. 
During  the  third  and  fourth  half-years,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
foreign-born  are  heavier,  first  by  only  .01  pound,  then  by  1.40 
pounds.  For  the  two  years  as  a  whole,  native-born  Italian 
boys  are  1.45  pounds  heavier  than  the  foreign-born.  Among 
Italian  girls,  on  the  other  hand,  the  foreign-born  are  heavier 
only  in  the  second  age  group,  with  a  difference  of  1.10  pounds. 
In  the  first,  third  and  fourth  half-years  the  native  Italian 
girls  have  the  advantage,  with  1.80,  1.36  and  4.23  pounds, 
respectively.  For  the  two  years  as  a  whole,  native-born 
Italian  girls  are  1.02  pounds  heavier  than  the  foreign-born. 

Professor  Boas  in  his  volume  "  Changes  in  Bodily  Form  of 
Descendants  of  Immigrants"  gives  similar  data  on  the  heights 
and  weights  of  native  and  foreign  born  Jewish  and  Italian 
children,  and  it  is  of  interest  to  compare  our  results  with  the 
figures  in  his  investigation.  To  make  the  two  sets  of  figures 
comparable,  we  have  reduced  ours  from  a  half  yearly  to  a  yearly- 
basis,  and  have  grouped  together  the  Boas  figures  for  Sicil- 
ians and  Neapolitans,  which  are  given  separately  in  his  tables, 
to  obtain  the  average  for  the  Italians,  The  results  are  given 
in  Table  15 : 


33 


TABLE  15 

Differences  in  Height  and  Weight  of  Jewish  and  Italian  Native 

and  Foreign  Born  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  15, 

and  15  to  16 

Frankel  and  Dublin  (1916),  and  Boas  (1911)  Figures 


NATIONALITY  OR  RACE  STOCK 
AGE  AND  SEX 

SUPERIORITY*  OF  NATIVE  OVER 
FOREIGN  BORN 

In  Height 
(Inches) 

In  Weight 
(Pounds) 

F.&D. 

Boas 

F.&D. 

.41 
2.28 

—  .41 
2.92 

3.19 
-.60 

.67 
2.24 

Boas 

1.98 
.00 

.88 
-2.20 

JEWISH  BOYS: 
14  to  15  yrs 

.19 
.57 

.30 

.82 

.19 

—.45 

-.01 
-.10 

.75 
.23 

.39 
—.47 

-.28 
—.55 

.59 
-.23* 

15  to  16  yrs. 

JEWISH  GIRLS: 
14  to  15  yrs. 

15  to  16  yrs. 

ITALIAN  BOYS: 
14  to  15  yrs. 

15  to  16  yrs. 

ITALIAN  GIRLS: 
14  to  15  yrs. 

15  to  16  yrs. 

*A  minus  sign  ( — )  denotes  inferiority. 

In  general,  our  figures  show  the  same  tendency  as  those  of 
Professor  Boas,  pointing  to  a  superior  development  of  the  native- 
born  Jewish  children  as  compared  with  the  foreign-born  of  this 
race  stock,  and  to  a  relatively  inferior  development  of  native- 
born  Italian  children  as  compared  with  their  foreign-born 
brethren.  But,  as  is  seen  from  the  table,  the  extent  of  the 
differences  between  the  native  and  foreign  born  children  of 
these  two  nationalities  varies  in  the  two  sets  of  data.  Professor 
Boas  interprets  these  results  as  follows:  "Among  the  east 
European  Hebrews,  the  American  environment,  even  in  the 
congested  parts  of  the  city,  has  brought  about  a  general  more 
favorable  development  of  the  body,  which  is  expressed  in  the 
increased  height  of  body  (stature)  and  weight  of  the  children. 
The  Italian  children,  on  the  other  hand,  show  no  such  favorable 
influence  of  American  environment,  but  rather  a  small  loss  in 


34 


vigor  as  compared  to  the  average  condition  of  the  immigrant 
children.  It  therefore  appears  that  the  south  Italian  race 
suffers  under  the  influence  of  American  city  life,  while  the  east 
European  Hebrew  develops  under  these  conditions  better  than 
he  does  in  his  native  country."*  This  interpretation  is  clearly 
corroborated  by  our  figures. 

Comparing  the  figures  of  the  native-born  Jewish  and  Italian 
children  with  those  of  native-born  of  native  parentage  as  given  in 
Table  13  (page  24),  we  find  that,  although  the  native-born  Jewish 
boys  are  taller  than  the  foreign-born,  they  are  nevertheless  shorter 
than  the  native-born  of  native  parentage  by  .28  inch  for  the 
two  years.  As  regards  weight,  however,  the  native  Jewish  boys 
are  in  the  lead.  Their  average  weight  for  the  two  years  is 
107.17  pounds,  exceeding  that  of  the  native-born  boys  of  native 
parentage  by  1.56  pounds.  Among  girls,  the  relationship  is 
almost  the  same.  The  native  Jewish  girls  are  inferior  in  stature 
to  the  American  girls  by  .21  inch,  but  in  weight  they  are  nearly 
equal  to  the  native  girls  of  native  parentage,  the  difference  in 
favor  of  the  latter  being  only  .08  pound. 

The  native-born  Italian  boys  are  1.17  inches  shorter  and 
.45  pound  lighter  than  the  native  boys  of  native  parentage. 
Native-born  Italian  girls  are  2.10  inches  shorter  and  2.87 
pounds  lighter  than  native  girls  of  native  parentage. 

SUGGESTED  STANDARDS  OF  PHYSICAL  DEVELOPMENT 

The  examining  officer,  whose  duty  it  is  to  determine  the 
fitness  of  children  to  be  subjected  to  the  strain  of  industrial 
work,  has  a  large  discretionary  power.  It  is  important  that 
he  should  have  at  his  disposal  bases  for  determining  in  some 
way,  other  than  by  personal  impression,  the  question  of  whether 
or  not. an  applicant  conforms  tp  reasonable  standards.  How, 
then,  shall  we  proceed  with  the  establishment  of  norms  to 
govern  the  solution  of  this  problem  and  what  shall  these 
norms  be? 

We  have  observed  above  that  there  are  differences  in  the 
heights  and  weights  of  the  children  of  the  various  nationalities. 
These  differences  are,  however,  too  slight  to  warrant  the 
adoption  of  special  standards  for  each  nationality.  We  shall, 
therefore,  consider  this  subject  without  distinction  for  the  race 
groups.  Such  standards  as  we  shall  develop  will  take  into 

""'Changes  in  Bodily  Form  of  Descendants  of  Immigrants",  page  62. 

35 


consideration  only  the  differences  in  the  two  sexes  and  in  the 
two  individual  years,  namely,  14  to  15  and  15  to  16.  Shorter 
age-periods,  such  as  half-years,  will  not  be  considered  in  this 
connection,  in  view  of  the  minor  changes  in  height  and  weight 
occurring  from  one  period  to  another. 

Our  first  consideration  is  to  arrive  at  a  basis  by  which 
normal  development  may  be  determined.  Clearly,  this  basis 
cannot  be  height  alone.  As  we  have  shown  in  Table  3  (page  5) 
25%  of  the  boys  were  under  five  feet  in  height;  this  was  equally 
true  for  the  girls.  Indeed,  4.1%  of  the  boys  and  2.4%  of  the 
girls  in  this  group  were  under  four  feet  nine  inches.  These 
children  are  surely  of  short  stature  by  any  standard,  and  one 
would  be  tempted,  on  the  score  of  height  alone,  to  suggest  the 
elimination  of  these  boys  and  girls  as  still  physically  unfit  for 
industrial  work  during  such  critical  years  as  14  to  16.  But 
these  boys  and  girls  are  often  on  examination  as  robust  and  well- 
formed  as  many  taller  children  who  apply  for  work  papers. 
This  is  seen  in  Table  8  (page  16).  Many  are  short  through  in- 
heritance, although  others  are  retarded  in  development  for  their 
age.  Any  strength  test  to  which  they  might  be  put  would  in 
all  probability  show  that  many  were  physically  as  fit  as  those 
of  average  height  for  their  age.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  we  cannot 
determine  normal  development  from  a  consideration  of  height 
alone,  although  health  officers  will  often  use  their  discretion  to 
withhold  certificates  from  children  at  the  extremes  of  low 
height. 

In  the  same  way,  a  consideration  01  weight  alone  will  lead 
to  no  constructive  results,  for,  to  have  any  meaning,  weight 
must  clearly  be  taken  in  relation  to  height.  A  weight  of  100 
pounds,  while  considerable,  and  even  above  the  average  for  a 
child  60  inches  in  height,  would  be  very  low  for  a  boy  67 
inches  tall.  The  only  proper  basis,  therefore,  is  the  relation 
of  weight  to  height.  The  health  officer's  problem  is,  then,  to 
note  the  weight  of  any  applicant  in  relation  to  his  height,  and 
to  see  to  what  degree  the  actual  figures  correspond  to  the  aver- 
ages which  were  ascertained  in  this  study,  or  to  those  prevailing 
in  his  own  locality  if  such  figures  are  at  hand. 

We  shall  now  consider  the  average  weights  found  by  us  for 
each  height,  and  determine  the  minimum  weights  to  be  allowed 
for  each  inch  of  height  for  each  of  the  two  sexes  and  for  each 
year  of  age.  The  following  table  gives  the  essential  figures  for 
our  discussion: 

36 


TABLE  16 


Number,  Average  Weights,  Standard  Deviations  and  Other 

Derived  Values  for  Each  Inch  of  Height  of  New  York 

Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  15  and  15  to  16  Years 


BOYS 


AGE  14  to  15 

AGE  15  to  16 

Height 
in 
Inches 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Weight  (A) 
(Pounds) 

Standard 
Deviation 
(«•) 
(Pounds) 

A-<r 
in 
P'nds 

No.  of 
Child'n 
Below 
A-«r 

<r 
T 

(Per 
cent.) 

No.  of 
Chil- 
dren 

Average 
Weight  (A) 
(Pounds) 

Standard 
Deviation 
(<r) 
(Pounds) 

A-CT 

in 
P'nds 

No.  of 
Child'n 
Below 
A-<r 

<r 

£ 

cent.) 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

54.  ... 

13 

82.27 

5.84 

77 

2 

7.1 

5 

85.60 

— 

— 

— 



55.... 

59 

80.87 

6.87 

74 

2 

8.5 

12 

78.62 

.38 

78 

5 

.5 

56.... 

96 

83.27 

10.06 

73 

3 

12.0 

33 

81.23 

6.49 

75 

4 

8.0 

57.... 

190 

85.56 

7.47 

78 

21 

8.7 

60 

87.28 

13.02 

74 

— 

14.9 

58.  ... 

283 

88.03 

8.28 

80 

28 

9.4 

101 

88.14 

7.21 

81 

15 

8.2 

59.  ... 

349 

91.92 

8.54 

83 

48 

9.3 

121 

94.85 

9.21 

86 

16 

9.7 

60.  ... 

440 

97.47 

9.29 

88 

67 

9.5 

201 

99.72 

11.41 

88 

28 

11.5 

61.... 

434 

102.37 

10.41 

92 

55 

10.0 

216 

103.28 

9.03 

92 

20 

8.8 

62.  ... 

400 

107.03 

11.12 

96 

58 

10.4 

266 

107.45 

9.92 

98 

39 

9.3 

63,... 

355 

110.80 

10.77 

100 

48 

9.7 

250 

111.92 

11.62 

100 

28 

10.4 

64.  ... 

307 

116.58 

12.23 

104 

39 

11.0 

220 

116.81 

10.78 

106 

34 

9.2 

65.... 

200 

119.67 

'11.87 

108 

30 

9.9 

189 

120.58 

12.31 

108 

18 

10.2 

66.  ... 

137 

124.09 

11.59 

113 

20 

9.4 

131 

125.41 

15.95 

109 

11 

12.8 

67.... 

78 

129.95 

13.81 

116 

8 

10.7 

77 

132.64 

15.09 

118 

10 

11.3 

68.... 

34  ' 

135.01 

12.89 

122 

3 

9.6 

42 

131.35 

14.31 

117 

7 

10.9 

69.... 

15 

134.40 

12.23 

122 

2 

9.1 

42 

137.40 

14.12 

123 

7 

10.3 

70.  ... 

6 

142.00 

13.85 

128 

1 

9.8 

10 

143.55 

8.68 

135 

2 

6.1 

71.... 

7 

141.71 

24.70 

117 

2 

17.6 

7 

144.29 

7.96 

136 

1 

5.5 

437 

247 

GIRLS 


AGE  14  to  15 

AGE  15  to  16 

54.  ... 

8 

81.94 

5.27 

77 

2 

6.5 

3 

91.00 





_ 

_ 

55.  ... 

10 

90.35 

9.50 

80 

1 

10.5 

7 

92.86 

15^35 

78 

2 

16.7 

56.  ... 

47 

89.47 

11.67 

78 

7 

13.1 

29 

89.57 

8.34 

81 

6 

9.5 

57.... 

102 

90.04 

10.87 

79 

12 

12.1 

50 

94.07 

12.21 

82 

8 

13.0 

58.  ... 

247 

95.25 

12.37 

83 

39 

13.0 

110 

98.73 

12.88 

86 

16 

13.0 

59.  ... 

356 

97.49 

12.26 

85 

42 

12.6 

186 

99.87 

11.68 

88 

29 

11.7 

60.  ... 

513 

102.07 

13.12 

89 

69 

12.9 

309 

103.17 

14.22 

89 

41 

13.8 

61.... 

474 

105.80 

14.13 

92 

72 

13.3 

308 

107.02 

13.08 

94 

45 

12  2 

62.  ... 

409 

107.57 

12.97 

95 

57 

12.1 

285 

109.18 

13.44 

96 

44 

12.3 

63.... 

296 

110.67 

14.12 

97 

37 

12.7 

216 

112.99 

14.77 

98 

28 

13.1 

64.... 

167 

114.76 

15.88 

99 

21 

13.8 

154 

115.09 

16.17 

99 

17 

13.9 

65.... 

102 

117.12 

14.88 

102 

12 

12.7 

78 

119.22 

16.79 

102 

8 

14.1 

66.  ... 

56 

122.31 

21.15 

101 

4 

17.3 

51 

123.47 

15.75 

108 

6 

12.8 

67.  ... 

23 

132.65 

22.20 

110 

2 

16.7 

24 

133.13 

24.48 

109 

3 

18.4 

68.... 

6 

129.33 

22.49 

107 

— 

17.4 

8 

127.75 

12.86 

115 

1 

10.0 

69.  ... 

6 

148.58 

23.23 

125 

1 

15.5 

1 

104.50 

— 

— 

— 

— 

70.  ... 

1 

118.50 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

71.... 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

1 

110.00 

— 

— 

— 

— 

378 

254 

37 


The  first  two  columns  have  already  been  considered  in 
Table  8  (page  16).  They  give  the  average  weights  for  each  inch 
of  height.  The  average  weights  as  given  may  be  considered  as 
norms  for  our  purpose,  except  at  the  extremes  of  height,  where 
the  number  of  cases  observed  is  small.  These  figures  may  be 
replaced  by  the  smoothed  "values  (also  in  Table  8)  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made. 

The  problem  now  resolves  itself  into  this:  What  departures 
or  deviations  may  be  permitted  from  the  average  weights  in 
granting  certificates?  The  children  who  are  above  the  averages 
may  be  excluded  from  consideration.  They  are,  if  anything, 
better  physical  specimens  of  their  class.  Where  overweight  is 
so  marked  as  to  be  a  menace  to  the  child,  the  physical  exam- 
ination will  be  likely  to  disclose  defects  of  heart,  kidney  or  other 
vital  organ  which  should  bar  the  applicant.  The  under- 
weights are  therefore  our  sole  consideration,  and  the  question 
still  further  reduces  itself  to  the  determination  of  the  minimum 
weights  which  are  consistent  with  physical  fitness. 

An  interesting  suggestion  was  made  in  this  connection  by 
Porter*,  who  urged  that  a  child  whose  physical  development 
departs  more  than  the  probable  deviation  from  the  average 
weight  for  his  height,  should  be  considered  sub-normal.  This 
suggestion  attracted  our  attention,  for  it  seemed  to  give  the 
very  value  which  would  serve  as  a  first  approximation  for  the 
determination  of  the  minimum  weights  to  be  used  by  health 
oflicers.  We  have  used  this  suggestion  in  Table  16.  The 
standard  deviations  ( <* )  are  given  for  the  average  weights  for 
each  inch  of  height.  If  we  follow  the  method  of  Porter,  the 
children  whose  weights  were  below  the  average  by  a  number 
of  pounds  equal  to  the  standard  deviation,  would  be  excluded. 
Column  4  gives  the  minimum  weight  values  on  this  basis. 
Column  5  gives  the  number  of  children  who  would  fall  below 
this  limit  (A-<r).  We  have  also  included  the  percentage 
deviation  from  the  average  which  is  allowed  according  to  this 
method,  namely,  •£ .  This  is  shown  in  Column  6.  Among 
boys,  age  14  to  15,  there  would  be  437,  or  12.8%,  who  would 
have  to  be  excluded  on  this  basis.  In  like  manner,  247  boys, 
or  12.4%,  would  be  eliminated  at  age  15  to  16;  378  girls,  or 
13.4%,  at  age  14  to  15;  and  254  girls,,  or  13.9%,  at  age  15  to  16. 

*W.  Townsend  Porter,  "On  the  Application  to  Individual  School 
Children  of  the  Mean  Values  Derived  from  Anthropological  Measurements 
by  the  Generalizing  Method."  Publications  of  The  American  Statistical 
Association.  Vol  III,  Boston,  1893. 

38 


Summarizing  the  above,  we  may  say  that  an  approximate 
deviation  of  10%  from  the  average  weight  of  boys  for  each 
height,  and  a  deviation  of  about  12%  from  the  average  weight 
of  girls,  would  result  in  the  dropping  of  over  13%  of  the  children 
on  the  score  of  deficient  weight  for  their  height.  Attractive 
and  highly  desirable  as  this  may  be  as  a  social  programme  for 
the  conservation  of  child  life  and  the  prevention  of  the  prema- 
ture entry  of  children  into  industrial  work,  the  authors  are 
nevertheless  not  ready  to  suggest  the  adoption  of  so  radical  a 
standard.  They  are  aware  that  they  have  considered  in  this 
investigation  applicants  who  were  actually  granted  work 
papers,  and  it  has  seemed  to  them  that  the  elimination  of  13% 
of  such  children  on  the  score  of  insufficient  weight  for  their 
height  would  involve  too  great  a  departure  from  present 
practice.  It  is,  therefore,  suggested  that  a  somewhat  greater 
deviation  from  the  average  be  permitted,  namely,  15%.  This  is 
along  the  lines  of  the  practice  of  life  insurance  companies,  which 
allow  a  deviation  of  20%  above  and  below  the  average  weight 
for  each  height,  in  passing  upon  the  acceptability  of  a  risk 
for  life  insurance.  Allowing  for  the  lesser  variability  in  weight 
for  given  heights  on  the  part  of  children  as  compared  with 
adults,  the  limit  of  15%  seems  reasonable.  On  this  basis, 
which  is  approximately  1 J  a  instead  of  1  a ,  not  684  cases, 
but  189  cases,  or  3.5%,  would  be  eliminated  among  the  boys, 
and  not  632  cases,  but  436  cases,  or  9.4%,  would  be  eliminated 
among  the  girls.  This  is  more  conservative,  and  would  seem 
to  meet  satisfactorily  the  requirements  of  the  case. 

It  is  realized  that  this  15%  limit  works  out  more  stringently 
with  the  girls  than  with  the  boys,  excluding  as  it  does  a  much 
higher  percentage  of  the  former  than  of  the  latter.  But  it 
seems  that  social  considerations  fully  warrant  such  discrimina- 
tion. In  the  large  majority  of  cases  the  girls  enter  economic 
employment  only  for  a  temporary  period.  They  give  up 
industrial  work  when  they  marry,  and  enter  upon  their  natural 
vocation  of  motherhood.  This  is  their  most  important  function, 
and  it  requires  preeminently  an  unimpaired  physical  con- 
dition. The  longer  that  their  entry  into  the  stress  and  strain 
of  employment  is  postponed,  the  better  are  their  chances  to 
develop  the  faculties  which  are  essential  to  strong  motherhood. 
The  health  officer  should,  therefore,  scrutinize  most  carefully 
the  girls  on  the  border  line.  The  apparent  discrimination 
which  our  suggested  minimum  weight-limit  works  against 

39 


the  girls  does  not  affect  them  unfairly,  when  considered  from 
the  broader  viewpoint  of  social  expediency. 

We  would  urge,  then,  that  our  averages,  as  given  in  Table  8 
(page  16)  be  considered  normal  weights  for  each  height  for 
New  York  children  ages  14  to  15  and  15  to  16,  and  that  a 
deviation  of  15%  below  these  averages  be  regarded  as  the 
maximum  departure  which  can  safely  be  permitted  in  granting 
work  papers.  The  following  Table  1 7  gives  the  minimal  weights 
so  computed  for  each  of  the  two  years  and  each  of  the  two 
sexes.  It  is  based  on  the  smoothed  weights  for  the  various 
heights,  presented  in  Table  8. 

TABLE  17 

Suggested  Minimum  Weight  Limits  for  Each  Inch  of  Height 

of  New  York  Boys  and  Girls,  Ages  14  to  15  and 

15  to  16  Years 


HEIGHTS 
(In  Inches) 

WEIGHTS  (In  Pounds) 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

Age  14  to  15 

Age  15  to  16 

Age  14  to  15 

Age  15  to  16 

57..     

73 
76 
79 
83 
86 
91 
95 
99 
103 
106 
110 
113 

74 
77 
80 
84 
88 
91 
95 
99 
103 
107 
110 
114 

78 

81 

84 
86 
89 
92 
95 
98 
101 
105 
108 
112 

82 

83 
85 
87 
90 
93 
96 
99 
102 
105 
108 
112 

58  

59  

60  

61  

62  

63  

64  

65  

66  

67  

68  

It  will  be  observed  that  these  so-called  minimal  weights  are 
given  for  heights  57  to  68  inches.  Figures  were  at  hand  for 
the  heights  at  the  lower  and  upper  extremes,  but  these  were  so 
clearly  marred  by  the  fewness  of  the  cases  on  which  they  were 
based,  that  we  did  not  feel  warranted  in  drawing  conclusions 
from  such  data.  Children  whose  stature  is  below  57  inches 
should  receive  the  especial  attention  of  medical  examiners, 
and  should  be  certificated  only  in  the  absence  of  physical 
defects,  and  should,  moreover,  be  required  to  weigh  at  least  as 
much  as  is  suggested  for  height  57  inches — namely,  )3  pounds  for 
boys  14  to  15,  74  pounds  for  boys  15  to  16,  and  78  and  82  pounds 

40 


respectively  for  girls  at  ages  1 4  to  1 5  and  1 5  to  16.  These  weights 
correspond  to  a  lesser  departure  than  15%  from  the  averages, 
but  public  policy  would  seem  to  require  added  restrictions  on 
these  abnormal  cases. 

CONCLUSION 

The  writers  have  endeavored,  in  this  paper,  to  present 
standards  of  height  and  weight  for  the  determination  of  physical 
fitness  of  children  to  be  certificated  for  employment.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  heights  and  weights,  while 
important  factors,  are  not,  in  themselves,  sufficient  guides  for 
this  purpose.  It  is  understood  that  every  child  is  required  to 
undergo  a  thorough  medical  examination,  in  which  the  eye- 
sight and  hearing,  the  condition  of  the  teeth  and  the  pharynx 
and  palate  are  examined,  and  in  which  the  functioning  of  the 
heart  and  lungs  is  carefully  tested.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that 
a  lesion  in  any  of  the  vital  organs  of  the  child  will  cause  the 
examiner  to  refuse  an  employment  certificate,  regardless  of 
height  and  weight. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  recall  additional 
standards  that  have  been  suggested  by  scientific  authorities. 
Crampton,  Rotch*and  others  hold  that  the  stage  of  physiological 
development  should  be  taken  into  consideration.  They  point 
out  that  there  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  chronologic 
and  the  physiologic  age  of  children,  and  direct  attention,  among 
other  things,  to  the  different  stages  of  puberty  and  of  ossification 
of  the  wrist  bones  and  of  the  epiphyses  of  the  radius  and  ulna. 
Thus  a  child  may  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  law  as 
to  chronologic  age,  but,  anatomically,  maybe  found  to  correspond 
to  the  normal  development  of  a  child  much  younger.  Ob- 
viously the  strain  of  industrial  work  would  result  in  harm 
to  such  a  child.  These  are  matters  the  importance  of  which 
will  be  appreciated  in  time  as  the  communities  awaken  to 
the  importance  of  the  subject  and  make  the  requirements 
for  issuing  employment  certificates  more  stringent.  However, 
as  long  as  present  conditions  obtain,  it  is  hoped  that  the  con- 
tribution of  the  authors  on  the  subject  of  height  and  weight 
will  be  generally  applied,  and  that  it  will  serve  to  better  the 
interests  of  the  children  even  under  the  present  law. 

*C.  Ward  Crampton,  "Physiological  Age— A  Fundamental  Principle," 
American  Physical  Education  Review,  yol.  XIII,  1908. 

Thomas  Morgan  Rotch,"  Chronologic  and  Anatomic  Age  in  Early  Life," 
The  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Vol.  LI.,  Chicago,  1908. 

41 


SUMMARY 
This  study  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

1.  More  than  half  of  the  children,  59.2%  of  the  boys  and 
56.2%  of  the  girls,   applied  for  employment  certificates  im- 
mediately upon  satisfying  the  requirements  of  the  law  as  to 
age  and  school  grade. 

2.  The  average  height  of  boys  14  to  15  years  old  is  61.55 
inches;  of  boys  15  to  16  years  old,  62.74  inches;  of  girls  14  to  15 
years  old,  61.19  inches;  of  girls  15  to  16  years  old,  61.59  inches. 
In  each  of  these  two  years  the  stature  of  boys  is  greater  than 
that  of  girls. 

3.  The  boys  are  distributed  over  a  greater  range  of  heights 
than  the  girls.     The  interquartile  range,   that  is,   the  limits 
which  include  the  central  50%  of  the  cases,  is  4.26  inches  for 
the  boys  and  3.05  inches  for  the  girls. 

4.  In  the  period  between  the  first  quarter  of  the  fifteenth 
and  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  year,  the  boys  show  an 
increase  in  height  of  2.01  inches  and  the  girls  only  .71  inch. 

5.  The  average  weight  of  boys  14  to  15  years  old  is  103.38 
pounds;  of  boys  15  to  16  years  old,   109.69  pounds;  of  girls 
14  to  15  years  old,  104.54  pounds;  and  of  girls  15  to  16  years 

.old,  107.57  pounds. 

6.  The  boys  are  distributed  over  a  greater  range  of  weights 
than  the  girls,  their  interquartile  range  being  23.7  pounds,  as 
.against  19.83  pounds  for  the  girls. 

7.  In  the  period  between  the  first  quarter  of  the  fifteenth 
and  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  year,  the  boys  gain  10.56 
pounds  and  the  girls  gain  only  3.61  pounds. 

8.  The  coefficient  of  correlation  between  height  and  weight 
for  boys  14  to  15  years  old  is  .776;  for  boys  15  to  16  years  old, 
.759;  for  girls  14  to  15  years  old,  .499;  for  girls  15  to  16  years 
•old,  .439.     The  coefficients  of  correlation  are  higher  for  boys 
than  for  girls;  and  for  both  sexes  the  coefficient  is  higher  in 
the  first  than  in  the  second  year  under  consideration. 

9.  Up  to  about  63  inches,  the  girls  are  heavier  than  the 
boys  for  the  same  height;  but  beyond  that  height,  the  boys 
are  heavier  than  the  girls. 

10.  For  the  two-year  period  14  to  16,  taken  as  a  unit,  the 
children  in  higher  grades  are  taller  than  those  in  lower  grades. 
Among  boys,  graduates  are  taller  by  .18  inch,  and  high  school 
boys  by  .48  inch,  than  those  in  grade  7A.     Among  girls,  gradu- 


42 


ates  are  taller  by  .35  inch,  and  high  school  pupils  by  .62  inch, 
than  those  in  grade  7A.  The  heights  of  both  boys  and  girls 
show  irregular  fluctuations  in  the  intermediate  grades. 

1 1 .  The  boys  do  not  show  any  definite  correlation  of  weight 
with  school  grade.     During  the  two-year  period,  the  boys  in 
grade  7A  are  .30  pound   heavier  than  the  graduates,  but  .89 
pound  lighter  than  high  school  pupils.     The  weights  fluctuate 
irregularly  in  the  intermediate  grades.     The  girls  show  a  more 
decided  tendency  towards  an  increase  in  weight  with  an  advance 
in  school  grade.     Graduates  are  .08   pound  heavier,  and  high 
school  pupils  are  2.34  pounds  heavier  than  girls  in  grade  7 A. 

12.  The  distribution  by  nationality  or  race  stock  of  the 
children  covered  by  this  investigation  was  as  follows:    Jews, 
36.6%;  Italians,  18.3%;  native-born  of  native  parentage,  16.1%; 
English,  Scotch  and  Irish,  10.9%;  Germans,  9.5%;  Slavs,  2.8%' 
miscellaneous  group,  5.8%. 

13.  The  proportion  of  boys  is  greater  than  that  of  girls  for 
each  nationality  or  race  stock,  except  the  Italian. 

14.  The  German  boys  are  tallest,  with  an  average  height 
for  the  two  years  of  62.49  inches;  native-born  boys  of  native 
parentage  average  62.31  inches;  English,  Scotch  and  Irish,  62.07 
inches;  Jewish,  61.92  inches;  Italian,  61.18  inches. 

15.  Among  the  girls,  the  Germans  are  tallest,   averaging 
for  the  two  years  62.39  inches.      The  native-born  of  native 
parentage   average   62.38  inches;   English,   Scotch   and   Irish, 
62.21  inches;  Jews,  60.93  inches;  Italians,  60.30  inches. 

16.  The  native-born  boys  of  native  parentage  gain   1.72 
inches  in  height  from  the  first  to  the  second  of  the  two  years 
under  discussion;  the  Germans,  1.63  inches;  English,  Scotch  and 
Irish,  1.34  inches;  Jews,  .94  inch;  Italians,  .78  inch.     Among 
the  girls,  the  English,  Scotch  and  Irish  lead,  with  an  increase 
of  .77  inch;  the  Germans  gain   .67  inch;  Italians,   .29  inch; 
Jews,  .16  inch;  native-born  girls  of  native  parentage,  .14  inch. 

17.  The  Jewish  boys  are  heaviest,  with  an  average  weight 
for  the  two  years  of  106.92  pounds;  German  boys  average  106.62 
pounds;  native-born  boys  of  native  parentage,  105.61  pounds; 
Italians,    104.61    pounds;    English,   Scotch   and   Irish,    102.44 
pounds. 

18.  The  German  girls  are  heaviest,  with  an  average  of  108.24 
pounds.     The  native-born  girls  of  native  parentage  weigh  106.86 
pounds;  Jews,  106.34  pounds;  English,  Scotch  and  Irish,  104.35 
pounds;  Italians,  103.66  pounds. 

43 


19.  The  German  boys  lead  in  gain  in  weight  from  the  first 
to  the  second  year,  with  an  increase  of  9.30  pounds;  native-born 
boys  of  native  parentage  gain  9.15  pounds;  English,  Scotch  and 
Irish,  5.45  pounds;  Jews,  5.09  pounds;  Italians,  4.38  pounds. 

20.  Among  the  girls,  the  Englislj,  Scotch  and  Irish  lead  in 
gain  in  weight  from  the  first  to  the  second  year,  with  an  increase 
of  4.58  pounds;  Germans,  3.96  pounds;  native-born  of  native 
parentage,  3.23  pounds;  Jews, 2,44  pounds;  Italians,  1.58  pounds. 

21.  Native-born  Jewish  boys  are  .23  inch  taller  and   .54 
pound  heavier  than  the  foreign-born.     The  native-born  Jewish 
girls  are  .52  inch  taller  and  .94  pound  heavier  than  the  foreign- 
born. 

22.  The  native-born  Italian  boys  are  .11  inch  shorter  but 
1.45  pounds  heavier  than  the  foreign-born  for  the  two  years. 
The  native-born  Italian  girls  are  likewise  .06  inch  shorter,  but 
1.02  pounds  heavier  than  the  foreign-born    during  the  same 
period. 

23.  For  practical  purposes,  the  differences  in  height  and 
weight  of  the  various  nationalities  are  not  sufficiently  large 
to  warrant  a  special  standard  for  each  nationality    for  the 
determination  of  minimum  requirements. 

24.  A  departure  of  15%  from  the  average  weight  for  a  given 
height  is  suggested  as  the  limit  below  which  children  should 

-  be  refused  employment  certificates,  even  if  the  medical  examiner 
pronounces  them  well  in  other  regards.  In  no  case  should  a 
certificate  be  granted  to  a  child  whose  weight  is  less  than  70 
pounds. 


44 


APPENDIX  I 

While  this  study  was  in  press  the  writers  received,  through 
the  courtesy  of  Dr.  Leonard  W.  Hatch,  Chief  Statistician  of 
the  New  York  State  Department  of  Labor,  figures  for  the 
heights  and  weights  of  4,449  children  to  whom  employment 
certificates  were  granted  in  1909-1910.  These  children  were 
in  the  cities  of  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Syracuse,  Schenectady  and 
Yonkers.  In  these  cities  the  height  and  the  weight  of  each 
child  applying  for  an  employment  certificate  are  carefully 
recorded  by  the  health  department.  It  is  interesting  to 
compare  the  averages  for  the  New  York  City  children  with 
those  of  the  up-state  children. 

Table  18,  on  the  following  page,  presents  a  comparison  of 
heights  and  weights  for  the  two-year  period  from  ages  14  to 
16,  for  the  individual  years  14  to  15  and  15  to  16,  and  for 
each  of  the  eight  quarter-year  periods. 


45 


TABLE  18 

Comparison  of  Heights  and  Weights  of  Boys  and  Girls 
Granted  Employment  Certificates  in  New  York  City  and  in 

Up-State  Cities 
Arranged  by  Quarter  and  Full  Year  Age-periods,  Ages  14  to  16  Years 


AGE-PERIOD 
AND 
LOCALITY 

BOYS 

GIRLS 

|    1 
ftj 

111 

>!« 

<jWti 

111 

«•«  o 

•S£ej 

•si! 

ogfe 

^(^OH 

1  1 

3       IS 

^"oO 

o>      "5? 

bc-^  8 

ill 

<<K~ 

II 

•s|1 

o  1  S 

^Plp-l 

14  to  16  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  .  . 

5,393 
2,627 

61.99 
61.31 
.68 

105.71 
100.68 
5.03 

1.71 
1.64 
.07 

4,650 
1,822 

61.35 

61.60 
-.25 

105.79 
103.30 
2.49 

1.72 
1.68 
.04 

14  to  15  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  .  . 

3,405 
1,786 

61.55 

60.90 
.65 

103.38 
98.60 
4.78 

1.68 
1.62 
.06 

2,827 
1,300 

61.19 
61.46 
-.27 

104.54 
102.18 
2.36 

1.71 
1.66 
.05 

15  to  16  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  .  . 

1,988 
841 

62.74 
62.17 

.57 

109.69 
105.09 
4.60 

1.75 
1.69 
.06 

1,823 
522 

61.59 
61.96 
-.37 

107.57 
106.09 
1.48 

1.75 
1.71 
.04 

14  to  141  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  . 

1,216 
786 

61.14 
60.59 
.55 

101.52 
97.21 
4.31 

1.66 
1.60 
.06 

1,033 
590 

61.12 
61.23 
—  .11 

104.28 
100.88 
3.40 

1.71 
1.65 
.06 

14i  to  14^  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  . 

786 
393 

61.52 
60.74 
.78 

102.55 
97.94 
4.61 

1.67 
1.61 
.06 

591 
271 

61.21 
61.39 
-.18 

104.02 
100.99 
3.03 

1.70 
1.65 
.05 

14|  to  14|  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  .  . 

724 
328 

61.72 
61.33 
.39 

103.97 
100.62 
3.35 

1.68 
1.64 
.04 

623 
224 

61.22 
61.92 
—.70 

105.87 
103.70 
,  2.17 

1.73 
1.67 
.06 

14|  to  15  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  .  . 

679 
279 

62.13 
61.52 
.61 

107.05 
101.07 
5.98 

1.72 
1.64 
.08 

580 
215 

61.29 
61.71 
-.42 

104.10 
105.67 
-7.57 

1.70 
1.71 
-.01 

15  to  15i  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  .  . 

698 
331 

62.44 
62.00 
.44 

107.44 
103.91 
3.53 

1.72 
1.68 
.04 

616 
197 

61.43 
61.85 
—.42 

107.31 
105.98 
1.33 

1.75 
1.71 
.04 

131  to  15i  Years: 

New  York  City. 
'  Up-State  Cities. 
Difference  .  . 

565 
221 

62.74 
62.32 
.42 

.110.36 

106.62 
3.74 

1.76 
1.71 
.05 

525 
136 

61.39 
62.08 
-•69 

106.92 
105.83 
1.09 

1.74 
1.70 
.04 

15|  to  15|  Years 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities. 
Difference.. 

446 
190 

62.96 
62.33 
.63 

110.87 
105.34 
5.5J 

1.76 
1.69 
.07 

409 
112 

61.93 
61.99 
-.06 

108.55 
105.63 
2.92 

1.75 
1.70 
.05 

15f  to  16  Years: 

New  York  City. 
Up-State  Cities 
Difference  .  . 

279 

99 

63.15 
62.09 
1.06 

112.08 
105.11 
6.97 

1.77 
1.69 
.08 

273 

77 

61.83 
61.97 
-.14 

107.89 
107.47 
.42 

1.74 
1.73 
.01 

46 


The  New  York  City  boys  show  a  consistently  greater 
average  height  at  each  age- period;  the  difference  in  their  favor 
amounts  to  .68  inch  for  the  two-year  period.  The  New  York 
City  girls,  on  the  other  hand,  are  shorter  than  the  up-state 
girls  at  each  age-period,  the  difference  for  the  two  years  being 
.25  inch.  As  regards  the  relative  heights  of  the  sexes,  it  may 
be  pointed  out  that,  while  the  New  York  boys  are  taller  than 
the  New  York  girls  in  each  period,  the  up-state  boys  are  taller 
than  the  up-state  girls  only  in  the  second  year;  in  the  first 
year  the  opposite  relationship  obtains. 

In  weight  as  well  as  in  height,  the  New  York  boys  are 
superior  to  the  up-state  boys  in  each  age-period.  For  the 
two-year  period  there  is  a  difference  of  5.03  pounds  in  their 
favor.  The  New  York  girls  are  likewise  heavier  than  the 
up-state  girls  at  each  age,  except  in  the  period  14f  to  15  years. 
For  the  two-year  period  the  difference  in  favor  of  the  former 
is  2.49  pounds.  New  York  City  boys  are  heavier  than  New 
York  City  girls  after  the  third  quarter  of  the  fifteenth  year; 
the  up-state  boys,  on  the  contrary,  are  lighter  than  the  up- 
state girls  in  every  period,  except  at  age  15|  to  15J. 

Both  boys  and  girls  of  New  York  City  are  stockier 
than  up-state  children;  that  is,  they  show  a  greater  weight 
per  inch  of  height.  For  the  two-year  period  the  New  York 
City'  boys  are  .07  pound  heavier,  and  the  New  York  City 
girls  are  .04  pound  heavier,  than  the  up-state  children  of  the 
respective  sexes,  per  inch  of  height.  Among  both  New  York 
City  and  up-state  children  the  girls  are  stockier  than  the  boys. 
The  differences  are  small,  to  be  sure,  but  may  be  significant. 
Thus  the  New  York  girls  are  .01  pound  heavier,  and  the  up- 
state girls  are  .04  pound  heavier,  than  the  corresponding  groups 
of  boys,  per  inch  of  height.  These  differences  would  be  appre- 
ciably increased  if  allowances  were  made  for  the  higher  heels 
worn  by  girls. 


47 


APPENDIX  II 
TABLE  19— Part  A 

Number  and  Average  Weights  for  Each  Half-inch  of  Height  of  New  York  Boys, 
Ages  14  to  16  Years,  for  Each  Quarter-year  of  Age 


14  to  14J  yrs. 

14J  to  14*  yrs. 

14*  to  14f  yrs 

14f  to  15  yrs. 

15  to  15J  yrs 

15i  to  15*  yrs 

15*  to  15f  yrs. 

5  J  to  16  yrg. 

Height 

in 

"8 

•8 

^a 

"3 

•8 

•s 

*o     1 

Half- 

t*  a 

JB 

>_  c 

t-  c        a) 

inches 

1| 

Is 

£Z 
|| 

If 

1| 

II 

3lS 

|| 

ll 

a3  •*•• 

11 

3_c 

Is 

_g|    ^ 

1 

jg 

2"ii 
>'s 

zS 

<& 

<&• 

zS 

<5^ 

zo 

<& 

S50 

<& 

<& 

lie     <^ 

o 

49 

49* 

1 

88.00 

50 

50* 

51 

51* 

52 

1 

76.50 

52* 

80.00 

1 

96.00 

53 

53* 

54 

2 

78.50 

1 

80.00 

2 

76.25 

1      123.00 

54* 

5 

84.60 

2 

87.00 

1 

76.00 

2 

79.75 

2 

76.25 

55 

9 

80.67 

8 

79.19 

6 

76.38 

4 

86  38 

1 

77.00 

2       75.75 

1 

80.00 

55* 

12 

80.50 

11 

83.64 

6 

80.75 

3 

79.17 

2 

80.75 

3 

78.67 

1       79.00 

2 

79.25 

56 

8 

83.25 

11 

78.77 

12 

84.50 

11 

81.68 

7 

78.93 

4 

76.38 

2       85.25 

2 

80.25 

56* 

21 

85.21 

10 

83.20 

12 

79.79 

11 

88.14 

7 

86.14 

4 

85.63 

6       77.92 

1 

78.50 

57 

34 

85.88 

18 

84.67 

22 

83.16 

18 

83.14 

13 

87.50 

6 

86.17 

5       88.40 

4 

84.13 

57* 

45 

87.39 

20 

84.23 

23 

87.43 

10 

85.90 

11 

84.11 

12 

93.08 

6       85.75 

3 

82.33 

58 

61 

87.41 

34 

85.93 

27 

87.59 

19 

85.76 

26 

87.21 

17 

90.74 

13       86.92 

5 

93.80 

58* 

65 

89.55 

30 

87.18 

24 

89.79 

23 

90.15 

17 

86.79 

12 

86.17 

7       86.57 

4 

94.50 

59 

78 

90.14 

49 

91.59 

33 

90.61 

26 

93.19 

18 

94.92 

15 

95.07 

12       94.88 

g 

96.13 

59* 

68 

93.42 

42 

91.33 

31 

93.32 

22 

93.98 

32 

94.58 

14 

95.93 

15       94.33 

7 

92.86 

60 

87 

94.96 

43 

96.00 

54 

97.98 

32 

96.97 

53 

98.77 

33 

102.24 

18       98.25 

4 

100.64 

60* 

88 

97.92 

51 

98.68 

43 

99.71 

42 

99.17 

23 

97.22 

27 

96.41 

21      104.37 

2 

102.17 

61 

96 

101.74 

48 

98.68 

42 

103.90 

41 

102.43 

41 

101.67 

41 

106.43 

26     102.21 

4 

99.50 

61* 

67 

102.75 

57 

101.68 

43 

103.78 

40 

105.49 

31 

104.15 

29 

102.86 

20     102.38 

4 

104.86 

62 

86 

104.56 

54 

102.79 

40 

104.73 

57 

106.01 

53 

107.21 

52 

106.18 

29     105.67 

5 

104.27 

62* 

50 

108.43 

41 

113.27 

39 

109.55 

33 

112.15 

43 

106.78 

30 

109.13 

22     109.39 

2 

112.66 

63 

64 

108.44 

39 

109.40 

49 

109.67 

47 

111.57 

49 

109.04 

40 

111.36 

29      110.88 

2 

113.80 

63* 

52 

112.66 

37 

111.72 

28 

112.77 

39 

111.82 

30 

111.27 

30 

112.25 

30      113.93 

0 

117.05 

64 

57 

113.74 

39 

115.95 

35 

114.54 

42 

117.82 

46 

112.64 

29 

115.03 

27      115.61 

7 

116.21 

64* 

38 

119.29 

37 

117.88 

23 

114.11 

36 

119.65 

20 

121.70 

31 

122.32 

37      117.84 

3 

115.15 

65 

26 

119.85 

25 

118.96 

29 

117.91 

27 

119.52 

40 

118.73 

19 

127.53 

26     119.13 

9 

118.92 

65* 

28 

120.96 

20 

118.68 

28 

118.55 

17 

124.53 

28 

120.27 

32 

121.25 

14      123.39 

1 

116.95 

66 

21 

125.55 

17 

122.94 

23 

122.83 

21 

123.07 

27 

125.11 

18 

123.42 

22      126.81 

Q 

123.94 

66* 

15 

128.30 

9 

120.89 

14 

125.29 

17 

123.41 

20 

125.03 

13 

123.69 

14     127.82 

8 

128.31 

67 

12 

140.79 

12 

126.71 

13 

121.50 

11 

125.91 

15 

129.27 

18 

127.28 

7      139.07 

5 

137.30 

67* 

9 

140.61 

3 

121.83 

10 

122.65 

8 

138.00 

7 

139.29 

9 

132.89 

9     133.28 

7 

136.07 

68 

4 

135.13 

6 

133.50 

2 

133.75 

6 

134.42 

12 

131.04 

8 

127.44 

7      138.93 

5 

123.70 

68* 

111.50 

7 

134.29 

3 

135.33 

5 

143.50 

4 

129.00 

3 

143.00 

3      129.50 

69 

125.50 

2 

131.25 

2 

137.25 

4 

133.13 

10 

132.75 

4 

155.13 

9      134.50 

6 

138.33 

65* 

135.00 

2 

138.75 

3 

136.17 

2 

123.75 

6 

144.83 

2     128.50 

3 

136.33 

70 

1 

150.00 

2 

143.50 

1 

133.00 

2 

143.75 

70* 

115.50 

2 

148.25 

•2 

145.00 

1 

137.00 

1 

149.00 

2     141.50 

1 

159.00 

71 

171.00 

2 

142.25 

2 

128.00 

3 

144.17 

2      134.75 

2 

154.00 

71* 

2 

140.25 

72 

1 

149.50 

j 

72* 

1 

149.00 

1 

148.50 

TOTAL 

1.216 

101.52 

786 

102.55 

724 

103.97 

679 

107.05 

698 

107.44 

565 

110.36 

446     110.87 

9 

112.03 

Average 
Height 

61.14 

61.52 

61.72 

62.13 

62.44 

62.74 

62.96 

63.15 

48 


APPENDIX  II — (Continued). 
TABLE  19— Part  B 

Number  and  Average  Weights  for  Each  Half -inch  of  Height  of  New  York  Girls, 
Ages  14  to  16  Years,  for  Each  Quarter-year  of  Age 


14  to  14i  yrs 

14J  to  14*  yrs 

14*  to  14f  yrs 

14f  to  15  yrs. 

15  to  15i  yrs 

15J  to  15*  yrs 

15*  to  15f  yrs 

15f  to  16  yrs. 

Height 

in 

"8 

•8 

"3 

'o 

"8 

"8 

o 

"o 

Half- 
inches 

|l 

ii 

CJ  •*« 

II 

Ii 

II 

oj  '2r 

|l 

Is 

i| 

|l 

II 

If 

11 

Ii 

|| 

S  — 

fi 

§s 

zu 

^ 

£i 

z& 

S.6 

ll 

Ifc 

gls 

zo 

II 

II 

<& 

m 

l£ 

P  J3 

£o 

4s 

49 

49* 

50 

50* 

1 

84.00 

51 

1 

87.00 

52 

52* 

1 

112.50 

53 

1 

74.50 

53* 

1 

69.00 

1 

144.00 

i 

118.50 

54 

3 

83.33 

1 

96.00 

1 

93.50 

54* 

1 

77.50 

i 

80.50 

2 

82.75 

1 

82.00 

1 

90.00 

55 

i 

85.50 

1 

95.00 

1 

111.50 

2 

81.75 

55* 

3 

99.67 

2 

82.25 

3 

86.50 

1 

102.00 

2 

98.25 

i 

77.00 

56 

12 

89.38 

5 

87.80 

7 

81.64 

2 

100.50 

6 

90.25 

4 

91.75 

3 

95.17 

56* 

6 

93.17 

3 

81.50 

8 

95.00 

4 

89.38 

3 

87.33 

5 

86.10 

4 

84.63 

4 

93.13 

57 

15 

91.70 

13 

89.31 

10 

91.25 

13 

89.15 

6 

93.75 

14 

94.50 

2 

94.75 

2 

102.25 

57* 

17 

88.62 

9 

90.56 

12 

91.83 

13 

88.65 

7 

87.64 

12 

96.79 

2 

94.75 

5 

91.90 

58 

48 

93.63 

27 

94.26 

27 

92.02 

20 

97.45 

22 

96.14 

8 

93.26 

9 

102.50 

5 

100.40 

58* 

49 

96.21 

27 

96.89 

28 

99.16 

21 

92.69 

26 

100.80 

21 

98.02 

14 

99.57 

5 

100.30 

59 

77 

94.11 

36 

99.39 

38 

98.50 

40 

97.28 

36 

97.42 

29 

98.14 

13 

105.54 

12 

101.25 

59* 

73 

99.56 

30 

98.68 

30 

97.00 

32 

97.13 

23 

101.37 

35 

99.86 

18 

181.00 

20 

99.70 

60 

105 

99.65 

78 

102.29 

58 

101.65 

51 

100.01 

78 

103.94 

49 

100.77 

34 

102.09 

28 

103.46 

60* 

79 

104.09 

38 

99.71 

58 

105.23 

47 

104.48 

42 

104.90 

36 

99.25 

31 

103.65 

10 

117.20 

61 

97 

105.45 

46 

106.96 

45 

104.09 

63 

105.90 

74 

106.96 

43 

108.44 

42 

106.01 

25 

104.02 

61* 

80 

ing  07 

52 

105.16 

38 

105.45 

53 

104.18 

43 

105.99 

29 

108.52 

32 

108.03 

19 

108.63 

62 

73 

107  '.45 

45 

105.49 

63 

107.53 

52 

104.10 

53 

107.47 

65 

107.65 

35 

103.89 

30 

116.12 

62* 

64 

109.79 

44 

107.57 

36 

110.33 

32 

108.94 

32 

110.86 

26 

110.90 

29 

112.74 

15 

106.93 

63 

61 

110.40 

31 

110.89 

36 

111.88 

35 

108.16 

40 

111.51 

37 

112.88 

29 

114.38 

20 

109.20 

63* 

46 

111.60 

21 

106.86 

36 

113.75 

30 

110.04 

30 

115.57 

22 

114.68 

24 

113.94 

14 

110.21 

64 

31 

112.52 

27 

112.83 

22 

116.45 

14 

109.14 

31 

113.64 

20 

118.38 

19 

115.45 

23 

113.17 

64* 

25 

116.56 

13 

113.62 

14 

122.07 

21 

116.24 

16 

114.34 

15 

120.40 

21 

117.10 

10 

105.80 

65 

24 

116.93 

12 

113.08 

13 

119.65 

8 

126.44 

10 

123.60 

9 

124.44 

15 

113.60 

6 

114.67 

65* 

18 

118.03 

10 

111.55 

7 

122.43 

9 

111.28 

10 

121.80 

15 

118.88 

7 

118.07 

7 

107.25 

66 

9 

123.33 

10 

115.90 

14 

120.29 

4 

135.25 

6 

121.00 

13 

124.08 

7 

130.14 

6 

116.50 

66* 

6 

117.08 

6 

120.75 

4 

145.00 

3 

116.17 

6 

123.75 

3 

123.67 

7 

120.36 

3 

130.67 

67 

4 

135.25 

3 

148.50 

5 

135.90 

6 

127.08 

9 

138.39 

4 

139.13 

4 

122.75 

67* 

3 

124.17 

1 

142.00 

1U8.00 

3 

130.00 

1 

154.50 

3 

119.17 

68 

1 

179.00 

1 

118.00 

2 

128.75 

2 

128.25 

2 

131.50 

68* 

2 

114.25 

1 

124.00 

I 

126.50 

1 

126.00 

1 

119.00 

M 

2 

139.00 

3 

147.83 

1 

170.00 

1 

104.50 

703 

70* 

1 

118.50 

71 

71* 

1 

110.00 

72 

72* 

TOTAL 

1,033 

104.28 

591 

104.02 

623 

105.87 

580 

104.10 

616 

107.31 

525 

106.92 

409 

108.55 

273 

107.89 

Average 
Height 

61.12 

61.21 

61.22 

61.29 

61.43 

61.39 

61.93 

61.83 

49 


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